Complaint to NHS after delay in diagnosing cancer led to death
- 24.05.2016
- HannahBottomley
- Clinical-negligence, Opinion, Clinical-negligence, Opinion
This tragic case is one of the unfortunate matters to have come to light with the latest reports on complaints handled by the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO.
Mr Filipovic appears to have seen by one hospital who suspected a tumour on his pancreas however when he was transferred to Kings’ College Hospital, there was a failure to investigate the suspected tumour on his pancreas for at least six months with other investigations being undertaken instead.
This delay meant that by the time of diagnosis Mr Filipovic was too weak to undergo the operation and chemotherapy which would have given him the best chance of survival. Sadly Mr Filipovic passed away and it would seem that his family therefore started a complaint against the hospital which they took to the Ombudsman who found failures in relation to Mr Filipovic’s treatment but also in relation to the manner in which his family’s complaint was investigated.
Whilst the Ombudsman did not find that Mr Filiopovic would definitely have survived with the right treatment compensation was recommended and paid by the Trust to recognise that their delay and failure removed his best chance of survival.
Where an individual passes away it is always difficult and I have written in the past about how acknowledged failures on the part of the medical profession can often make the situation more difficult however in order to determine whether there has been clinical negligence, it has to be shown that the care provided was negligence and with correct and appropriate care the outcome would have been different. Where an individual has passed away it has to be shown that with the correct and appropriate care that individual would have survived on the balance of probabilities.
This is a difficult legal test and one which requires very careful investigation by specialist solicitors such as PotterReesDolan.
However, it is heartening to read to the Ombudsman is acting on behalf of those families who have lost a loved one where there has been negligence. Even though it cannot be said that the individual would have survived, the Ombudsman is trying to ensure the Trust’s involved understand what has gone wrong and hopefully ensure they do not allow the same thing to happen again by ordered a payment of compensation.