The family of a pregnant mother, who died after she was twice sent home from a hospital accident and emergency department without appropriate treatment, has achieved a £400,000 settlement for medical negligence.
The woman was just 28 when she collapsed in front of her husband and young daughter after medics failed to diagnose and treat her ectopic pregnancy – a potentially dangerous condition in which the embryo implants itself outside the womb.
Lawyers representing her husband, mother and two children – a girl aged 15 and a boy aged four – sued the Maidstone Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust which accepted liability for the woman’s death at an early stage of the proceedings and issued an apology in open court.
The Trust also agreed to pay the family’s legal costs and the majority of the settlement received will be invested in court for the children’s benefit until they attain their majority.
The Trust’s solicitor said “I would just like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Trust to reiterate our apologies to the family. It is an extremely sad case and the Trust hopes that the settlement can give the family some comfort, although we appreciate that nothing can make up for the loss they have suffered.”