Ashtons is delighted to facilitate payments to two local hospices

Ashtons Legal is delighted to have been able to pass on to St Clare Hospice in Harlow and St Nicholas Hospice in Bury St Edmunds fees for the cost of care for two of their previous patients. This has been possible because the fees have been recovered as part of a personal injury compensation claim on behalf of the families concerned.

Mr J and Mr P both contracted, and sadly died of, Mesothelioma, an incurable asbestos-related disease. Martyn Hayward, a personal injury specialist at Ashtons Legal, successfully pursued claims against their previous employers on their families’ behalf, proving successfully that this was where the exposure to asbestos occurred.

The two claims between them resulted in compensation settlements of £340,000. A small part of the settlements included hospice fees for Mr J of £6,814 which will go to St Clare Hospice and £4,901 for Mr P’s care at St Nicholas Hospice Care.

Martyn says: “Many of our clients require specialist palliative care in their local hospice so we always seek to recover these hospice fees as part of their civil legal claim. Although we cannot bring Mr J and Mr P back, their families are comforted by the fact that they can give something of value to the hospice in return for the care that was vital to the patient‘s comfort and wellbeing at the end of their life.

Sadly the volume of cases of mesothelioma cases being diagnosed in East Anglia has not yet started to decline, in spite of measures to protect against asbestos-related disease being in place for several decades. Anyone who has recently received a mesothelioma diagnosis might find it helpful to join one of the Anglia Asbestos Disease Support Groups which run in Norwich and Bury St Edmunds on a monthly basis, to gain mutual support from others in a similar position. More information can be found at www.angliaasbestos.co.uk.”