Darren Tamplin has recovered £283,000 in damages for a widower and his young son following the death of their wife and mother through negligence at the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford.
She was admitted to hospital as an emergency case with severe headache and sickness, the onset of which had been extremely rapid.
The hospital did not take adequate steps to investigate the underlying cause of her condition. Crucially, the doctors failed to identify a subarachnoid haemorrhage (bleed to the brain) that she was suffering from.
Amongst other things, the hospital failed to undertake a CT scan when it should have done. In consequence, death occurred within a month.
Darren said:
“This is the most tragic of cases in which two clients have suffered unimaginable loss. I was instructed to provide answers to questions about treatment or rather lack of treatment and I am pleased that my client was satisfied though naturally distressed by the expert evidence that I was able to gather which was highly critical of the investigations at the hospital. My client felt that the least that he could do in memory of his wife was to ensure that the circumstances of her death were properly investigated. He was keen that lessons be learned by the doctors at the Trust and that the tragedy that befell his wife was not repeated.“
Because part of the negotiated compensation was for the benefit of a client under 18 years old, the law required that the agreed settlement of £283,000 be approved by a Judge. The amount of compensation and the breakdown between the two clients was scrutinised by a Judge who ultimately approved the overall amount and the apportionment between the widower and the son.
Darren also said:
“Clearly my clients would turn down all the compensation in the world to have their wife and their mother alive and healthy. It was, however, important to them to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the death, the reasons behind it and to highlight to the local hospital Trust failings on the part of its doctors.“