Our lawyers have secured a compensation settlement for the family of a retired florist who died following routine knee replacement surgery.
Judith Parker, a mother-of-two from Shirley, was suffering from a cold and cough prior to her surgery at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham on October 7th 2014. She was advised to see her GP, who suggested she speak to the hospital regarding whether the surgery should go ahead.
The surgery went ahead as planned despite Judith’s concerns but her condition deteriorated in the following 24 hours. She was transferred to a High Dependency Unit and then placed in a coma and moved to Queen Elizabeth Hospital when her condition worsened.
Her condition had not improved By October 29th 2014. Hospital staff withdrew treatment and she passed away. An inquest held in April 2015 recorded her cause of death as multi-organ failure, pneumonia, a pulmonary embolism and recent knee replacement surgery.
Judith’s family asked our medical negligence team to investigate whether her surgery should have been postponed. The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital denied liability for the case but agreed to settle Judith’s claim out of court for an undisclosed five-figure sum.
“It has been an incredibly difficult few years for Judith’s family and they remain devastated by her death, as well as the circumstances around it”, said medical negligence solicitor Mark Cawley.
“While the inquest provided some answers, the family continued to hold concerns regarding whether more should have been done to prevent her death – and particularly if her surgery should have been postponed.
“Nothing will change what has happened, but we hope that this settlement is an important step towards helping them come to terms with their loss.”
Judith’s husband Brian said: “Judith was a much-loved wife and mother and we all still miss her every day.
“We remain devastated that we lost her following what was meant to be routine surgery and while nothing will change what has happened, we just hope that lessons have been learned from what Judith went through and no one else goes through the same again.”
If you have lost a loved one due to negligent surgical care, we may be able to help you make a surgery compensation claim. See our Fatal Medical Negligence Claims & Inquests page to find out more.
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