Man died from treatment during stay in hospital after a fall

Tens of thousands in compensation for family of man who passed away after Inquest

After suffering a seizure in Tesco, Paul was taken to hospital for treatment. The following day he underwent a CT scan which came back as normal.

Staff noted Paul, aged 52, was an alcoholic and so he was given appropriate alcohol-management medication.

Two days into his admission into hospital, Paul was assessed as lacking capacity to make his own decisions due to his alcoholism and alcohol withdrawal.

That evening, Paul discussed with hospital staff about leaving the ward to go for a cigarette. In doing so, he fell and hit his head and suffered a deep cut above his eye.

Paul was assessed following the bang to his head but it was decided he didn’t need a CT scan and should just be checked every hour.

After being taken to A&E for his cut to be stitched, Paul was only checked twice over the next eight hours and not every hour as advised.

Paul was also subject to poor treatment by security professionals during his time in hospital.

Sadly, in the early hours of the following morning, Paul was checked and was found to be unconscious and had vomited.

Paul was taken for an urgent CT scan which showed a significant bleed on the brain and he was transferred to a specialist unit.

Unfortunately the damage Paul sustained was too extensive and his family made the difficult decision to withdraw life support later on that night.

PotterReesDolan acted on behalf of Paul’s three daughters in respect of a clinical negligence claim against the hospital Trust.

We also assisted with preparation for an Inquest which concluded that Paul’s death was accidental but had been contributed to by the hospital’s neglect.

We were able to achieve settlement of £15,500.00 for Paul’s daughters.

Compensation for fatal accidents, where there are no dependants, is very limited. This, therefore, represented the maximum we could have hoped to have achieved.

Hannah Bottomley, clinical negligence solicitor at PotterReesDolan, said:

This was a particularly tragic case where due to multiple failures within the hospital system Mr Stockton’s very serious brain injury was not recognised resulting in his premature death.

Mr Stockton’s daughters have been through a very distressing time, exacerbated by the initial lack of openness from the hospital and the subsequent refusal by the Trust to meet their legal representation costs at Inquest.

The Inquest was especially distressing and it is frustrating and disappointing that Mr Stockton’s daughters were unable to be supported in the way that they, and we, had hoped.

A verdict of accidental death contributed to by neglect is a relatively rare conclusion and one which I am sure the Coroner and Jury did not come to lightly. It is, however, a measure of the failings Mr Stockton was subjected to.

The names and identifying details of the client have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals involved.