Six figure sum obtained for family of West London man whose death could have been avoided

Medical negligence specialist Ben Ward from Ashtons Legal has settled the claim of Mrs B as a consequence of the death of her husband, Mr B.

Mr B had undergone an operation for a hernia when in his 50s and then, ten years later, started to feel unwell with abdominal pain so went to see his GP.

He was referred to his local hospital and had an X-ray. This failed to identify the full extent of the problem but, with an appropriate examination, the treating clinicians should have suspected a strong likelihood of a strangulated recurrent para-umbilical hernia.

Instead of being admitted urgently to undergo surgery, Mr B was sent home and told to await a date for surgery.

A number of weeks later, Mr B suffered excruciating pain and was taken back to the hospital by ambulance. Sadly, a part of his bowel had become necrotic as a result of the hernia and he required bowel resection. He had a terrible time post-operatively requiring a lengthy period of time in an induced coma.

Sadly, he developed a fistula and despite best plans to operate, Mr B was never deemed fit enough to undergo further surgery as a consequence of underlying coronary artery disease. His abdominal surgery to repair the fistula was postponed while he had a stent fitted to treat his heart condition.

Two months later he was admitted to hospital with evidence of multi-organ failure and was an in-patient for over a month. He was then discharged, but was re-admitted several weeks later and died shortly afterwards from multi-organ failure secondary to sepsis and cardiogenic shock.

Ben comments: “Mr B was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He had immigrated to the UK many years ago and had lived here for his entire working life. He had not long been retired before the problems with the hernia arose. Although he suffered from underlying coronary disease, this was asymptomatic and the likelihood is that, but for the need to undergo surgery, he would not have required stenting or suffered any cardiac-related issues for the remainder of his life. His family were understandably devastated by his death and the awful set of events that flowed from what should have been a relatively straightforward diagnosis at the outset.

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