Ashtons Legal helps secure five figure damages after woman dies in Serco’s care

Posted 19/11/2014

A private healthcare provider which runs community health services in Suffolk has settled a five figure damages claim after an Ipswich woman died following a fall whilst in their care. 

The news comes as an inquest was held today into the woman’s death. The medical injury lawyer representing the family is Ben Ward, a clinical negligence specialist at Ashtons Legal.

In November 2012 Mrs Joy Saunders, aged 76, was admitted to the physiotherapy care unit at Bluebird Lodge in Ipswich, following a stroke whilst on holiday in Spain. Two months earlier the hospital had been taken over by a private healthcare provider, Serco, who won the contract to deliver community health services in Suffolk on behalf of the NHS. Mrs Saunders’ husband, David, had been particularly concerned about his wife. When he left her on that first evening he specifically asked nursing staff to make sure they erected the bed rails, to prevent his wife from falling out of bed and causing herself damage.

Early the next morning Mr Saunders received a call from the Matronto tell him that his wife had fallen out of bed only two hours after he had left the previous evening and whilst he may be concerned by her appearance she had been seen by a doctor and was OK. When he visited her that same day he was shocked by the bruising on her face. He was also concerned that she was uncommunicative, unaware of her surroundings and generally dazed.

The following day Mr Saunders observed that her condition had worsened in that she was speaking nonsense and found difficulty in answering questions. He checked her vision and asked if she had a headache to establish if she were concussed at which she answered an uncertain no and appeared to have visual problems. Early the next morning Mr Saunders telephoned Bluebird Lodge and requested to speak to the Matron but neither she nor any nurses were available.

A short time later, however, he received a call from a nurse at the Centre saying that she had become concerned at his wife’s deteriorating condition and that Mrs Saunders would be taken to Heath Road Hospital in Ipswich for a scan, which subsequently showed she was suffering from a major brain haemorrhage. Mr Saunders was told that she could deteriorate further at any time and, if that happened, she wouldn’t be resuscitated.

Mrs Saunders died during Christmas 2013. The decision to hold an inquest into her death was taken shortly afterwards. Her husband’s initial letter of complaint to Suffolk Community Healthcare was ignored. A second letter, three months later, eventually received a response. In that letter, Serco claimed that a proper risk assessment had been carried out following Joy’s admission but admitted there was no written record of it. Staff had recognised that Mrs Saunders was at high risk of suffering falls, so her bed was fitted with a pressure sensor which rings an alarm if the patient moves. But the records indicated staff were concerned the device didn’t work.

Serco has been criticized for a string of failures by the East and West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), who awarded the contract on behalf of the NHS. The company is a huge American multi-national company, introduced as part of the government’s bid to bring private competition into the NHS. Their contract to provide community care for Suffolk is worth £190 million. They sought to reassure critics when first appointed to the contract by saying they would maintain staffing levels. But within a month of taking over they revealed plans to axe 137 healthcare jobs. Since then they have been the subject of a damning investigation by BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 and heavy criticism by MPs. They have also admitted misrepresenting data 252 times in another NHS contract they run in Cornwall. The chair of the House of Commons health select committee has suggested this amounts to fraud, and the company is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for other non-health related fraud allegations. Meanwhile the company’s performance in their health contracts has been so poor they have withdrawn from bidding for any further healthcare work. But Serco still run Suffolk Community Health.

Mr Saunders sought legal advice following his wife’s injuries. His lawyer is medical negligence specialist Ben Ward of Ashtons Legal who has been pursuing a claim against Serco.

In the days leading up to the inquest, the company agreed to pay damages in five figures, though they have still not admitted liability.

The Inquest was held to help ascertain whether, but for the fall, Mrs Saunders would have gone on to live an extended life. It is, quite understandably, Mr Saunders’ view that Joy died early as a consequence of the failures he believed occurred under Serco’s “watch”. The Coroner heard competing evidence in respect of the effect that the fall had in terms of accelerating Mrs Saunders’ death and her verdict was inconclusive.

Ben Ward comments: “This case was never about money. It was driven by principle and the love a man had for his wife. Mr Saunders wanted retribution. He wanted those who he deemed responsible to be held to account. For Serco to explain to him what happened. Above everything, he wanted other patients to be protected. Nothing I do can ever bring Joy back but I hope, with the outcome that has been achieved, and by drawing Joy’s tragic case to the attention of the public, that Mr Saunders can feel satisfied he has done everything he can do to prevent the same scenario occurring to another vulnerable patient.”