We acted for a client (now aged 43) who arrived at Great Western Hospital to visit her father who was in poor health. She was told by the nursing staff that her father’s condition was serious and that the IC team were working on him. She was not told that he was highly likely to die and had suffered a cardiac arrest or warned about his condition.
On attending his bedside, she witnessed the resuscitation attempts being carried out on her father; this was very distressing for her and caused her to suffer a psychiatric injury. Unfortunately, her father died.
It was our case that she satisfied the legal criteria for a “secondary victim” and, as such, was entitled to be compensated for her injury. She had been left with intrusive memories of what she had witnessed at the hospital but, with counselling, the prognosis for a full recovery was encouraging.
The hospital denied liability and we had to issue proceedings at Court. Once lawyers were appointed by the hospital, we were able to negotiate an early settlement on behalf of our client.
S. J. Edney solicitors obtained compensation of £5,000 for this client during 2015