We helped Louise* get an apology for the substandard care her late husband received. The negligence made it possible for him to flee from the hospital before taking his own life. Louise also received compensation to help with the care of their daughter who has physical and mental disabilities.
How did we help Louise?
Louise’s husband, Shaun*, had experienced issues with his mental health for several years. He expressed a wish to end his life and was subsequently taken to hospital by Louise.
Shaun was an inpatient at Hallam Street Hospital, which is part of the Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
It was decided he should be reviewed every 15 minutes by medical professionals at the hospital. While under the hospital's care, Shaun left the hospital without anyone knowing. Sadly, Shaun took his own life after leaving the hospital.
How did Irwin Mitchell help Louise?
Louise came to our medical negligence team to understand what went wrong with her husband’s care to allow him to leave the hospital. She also wanted to help make sure lessons were learnt to prevent this from happening again in the future.
Leanne Atkinson, an associate solicitor in our medical negligence team, worked with Louise and supported her through her claim.
The team started by obtaining Shaun’s medical records and asking an independent consultant psychiatrist to examine the care Shaun received. They identified failures by the NHS Trust and determined that if Shaun had got the appropriate treatment, he wouldn’t have taken his own life.
We also represented Shaun’s family at the Inquest into his death. The coroner was encouraged by the Trust’s implementation of an action plan and security review to prevent the same thing from happening in the future.
Our team were able to help Louise claim a six-figure settlement for the medical negligence leading to her husband’s death. The money will help make sure their daughter is financially secure in the future because she has significant physical and mental disabilities.
Louise also received a sincere apology from the Trust for the substandard care her husband received.
Expert opinion
On Louise’s claim, Leanne said: “Shaun was failed by the people who were there to support him. Sadly, this cost Shaun his life and he leaves behind his wife, Louise, and their daughter.
“It was important lessons were learnt from what happened to Shaun, to prevent something similar happening again in the future.”
*Not real name used.
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