Colin Hendry ‘to make compensation claim over wife’s death’

Posted 11/01/2010

Former footballer Colin Hendry may be set to initiate a new compensation claim against a hospital over the death of his wife last year.

The one-time Scotland national team captain will decide on whether or not to launch legal action based on the results of an inquest into wife Denise’s death at a hospital in Salford, reports the Daily Record.

Denise died of an infection at the Greater Manchester hospital after undergoing surgery to correct the damage done by a botched cosmetic procedure at a private clinic years earlier.

The couple were awarded a clinical negligence payout of £300,000 in 2004 over the initial incident, but the widower may now be set to make a further claim should coroners uncover further medical errors.

A spokeswoman for the Salford Royal Hospital declined to comment before the inquest, but expressed sympathy for Mr Hendry’s position.

In November 2009, a report published in the Royal Society of Medicine’s Clinical Risk Journal expressed concern that a lack of regulation in the cosmetic surgery sector is placing patients at risk of clinical negligence.

Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp, a clinical negligence specialist at Ashtons Legal, said: “This is a particularly tragic case which underlines the importance of regulation of the cosmetic industry.

“Although this area has reputedly experienced a downturn in demand due to the recession, it is still sadly in need of proper regulation and accountability with published benchmarks to enable those seeking cosmetic surgery to make informed choices regarding which procedure and which doctor to use.”