Father passed away following failings during a short Covid hospital stay

In May 2020, our client’s father started to have difficulties breathing and  was taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary by ambulance. He was admitted after he tested negative for Covid -19. Our client’s father was a laryngectomy patient who breathed through a stoma.

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Various tests were carried out and he was noted to have throat discomfort, was eating very little and was struggling to swallow. The following day he was noted to be unable to manage anything orally. Three attempts to pass a nasal gastric tube were made. A CT scan was requested. The Trust contacted the family to advise that there was some kind of blockage that was preventing our client’s father from being able to eat and drink and that it was not possible to put a feeding tube down due to this blockage. They were advised that a CT scan was expected to be performed on the weekend of 23.05.2020.    

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An ENT team advised that the blockage was most likely to be a gastroenterology problem. The CT scan which had not been arranged was deemed urgent to investigate a possible structural lesion.

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By 26.05.2020 the scan had still not taken place and our client’s father had only received  fluids for 11 days.  

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That evening our client’s father suffered a cardiac arrest after aspirating and the family were advised that it was not expected he would survive the night.  

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After this incident his daughters arrived on the ward to find their father had been fitted with an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose and was therefore struggling to breathe.  

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The family had to explain that this was incorrect and that staff were not treating him properly as  a laryngectomy patient who breathed through a stoma. The correct masks were then ordered.

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On 27.05.2020, our client’s father finally had the CT scan of his neck but the following day he had a further episode of respiratory deterioration and sadly died before this could take place.

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The Trust   accepted that there was an unacceptable delay in arranging the CT scan of our client’s father’s neck, that there were incidences of sub optimal care and he could have been referred to the nutritional team for consideration of total parental nutrition. Although it could not be proven that these failings caused the Claimant’s father death, damages were agreed to compensate for the unnecessary suffering experienced during our client’s father’s short hospital stay.