NHS hospital admits failings which resulted in ‘avoidable’ patient death

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An NHS hospital has admitted its failings of care for a patient who died in 2019 after being investigated for alleged Medical Negligence.

The investigation comes after the death of Ralph Sims, 65 who died after undergoing heart surgery at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

Mr. Sims suffered a sudden drop in blood pressure and irregular heart rhythm about eight hours after heart surgery, caused by a blood clot that reduced blood flow to his heart.

NHS hospital admits failings

However, an internal NHS investigation revealed that hospital staff failed to “recognise the significance of the fall in blood pressure.”

According to the report, medics observed the patient overnight, instead of referring the case to an on-call cardiology consultant, contrary to the unit’s policy.

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex, accepted that the 65-year-old should have been taken back to the operating theatre after realising the fall in blood pressure.

The report shows Mr. Sims had an x-ray to check his blood vessels more than 12 hours later, which showed he had suffered “irreversible, and otherwise avoidable, heart muscle damage”.

Following the initial surgery, Mr. Sims was transferred to intensive unit care for two weeks before being taken to a unit for a heart transplant.

However, despite being moved into a ward for specialist care, he was too ill to have the surgery and died five weeks after his initial operation, on Saturday 25 May 2019.

University Hospitals Sussex said:

“We have extended our condolences and apologies to the Sims family for their loss and the tremendous upset they have suffered.

“The care given to Mr. Sims in 2019 was not of the standard that he and his family should have been able to expect and we are deeply sorry for that.”

Operation Bramber

Sussex Police have been investigating Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton since June last year after the hospital allegedly covered up dozens of mistakes in patient care.

According to The Guardian, Operation Bramber is believed to have involved mistakes in the treatment of more than 100 patients from 2015 and 2021, including at least 40 who died.

It is thought that the cases refer to patients to received treatment in the general surgery and neurosurgery departments.

Care Quality Commission Report

In the hospital’s latest Care Quality Commission report carried out earlier this month, it was found that the Medical Care and Surgery departments require improvement.

The report highlights the service did not have enough staff to care for patients and staff were concerned about the safety of the service in certain areas. Issues were also raised about how some medications were stored as well as concerns about staff culture and morale.

It was also raised that people could not always access surgery when they needed it, and operations for patients were cancelled at the last minute.

Medical Negligence – making a claim

Medical Negligence is when you have been injured, or a loved one has died due to negligence treatment by a healthcare professional. This could be caused by a GP, healthcare assistant or a nurse.

How to make a claim

To make a medical negligence claim, you need to prove the healthcare professional owed you a duty of care, they breached the duty of care, and as a result, the failure to take care has caused you harm.

The victim of the negligence can bring about a claim in their own right. However, it is often sadly the case that the victim is either unable to bring about a claim or has sadly passed away.

In such circumstances, a claim can be brought about on their behalf either by an appropriate person or friend if the victim is still with us, or by the executor of the estate of a surviving dependent if the victim has passed.

How long do I have to make a claim?

Claims of this nature are subject to a three-year limitation period. This means claims must be commenced within the Courts within three years of either the date the negligent act occurred or the date you became aware that negligence had occurred.

In cases involving deceased victims, this limitation period commences from the date of death and in cases involving minors, the limitation period starts when they reach their 18th birthday.

The law surrounding limitation periods is complex – our specialist team will be able to advise further.

Types of Medical Negligence at hospitals

The hospital should be a place where harm is treated however unfortunately, the hospital is often the place where harm occurs.

Negligent treatment at a hospital can include but is not limited to an individual experiencing:

A delay and/or failure in diagnosis and/or treatment
A misdiagnosis
Incorrect treatment
Hospital-acquired infections including MRSA
Pressure sores
Mistakes during surgery
Consent
A delay and/or failure in receiving follow-up care