The family of a pensioner whose death was partly down to failings by Sunderland Royal hospital have received an out-of-court settlement.
75-year-old Jean James died last year after medics at the hospital failed to give her the necessary medication to prevent her from developing blood clots.
Mrs James, a mother-of-two, had been suffering with Alzheimer’s as well as some mobility problems and had been residing at a care home for several months before being admitted to hospital on Christmas Eve 2013 suffering from a chest infection.
Her condition improved a few days after being admitted to hospital however on 8th January 2014 she died of deep vein thrombosis.
An inquest was held in March last year and was critical of the basic Mrs James had received. It concluded that Mrs James had died of “natural causes contributed to by neglect” and the City hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust has since admitted that there were failings in her care.
Her husband John said: “We were devastated by my wife’s death and are still trying to come to terms with it now. She was rushed to hospital with a chest infection then died less than 10 days later with blood clots in her veins. We couldn’t understand it.
“The inquest was tough to take in because it showed that there could have been more done to treat Jean and we are pleased that the coroner highlighted the seriousness of what had happened.
“Although we have now settled the case with the NHS Trust, this was never about the money; we just wanted the hospital staff to take responsibility for what happened. We are relieved that changes have been made and we just hope that by taking legal action it will ensure that lessons are learned and that others will not suffer from similar failures in future.”
A City hospital spokesman said: “We can confirm new systems and checks are in place to ensure that similar events do not occur and would once again apologise to the family for the great distress caused in this very tragic case.”