Please help, don't know where else to go.

[leon_telford]

Hi

 

Last year in March I lost my unborn daughter at 20 months old due to

Stafford Hospital falling to get correct a long standing internal

bleeding problem with my ex girlfriend. My ex had a life saving

operation which left her not being able to have any more children and

also with a large scar on her belly.

 

She got awarded about £600k in compensation. However she then started

a claim against the hospital for the loss of our daughter.

 

The hospital offered a out of court settlement for about £800k which

she rejected. Due to go to court in July.

 

Our relationship fell apart after the loss and she refuses to give me

any of the money, am I entitled to make a claim against the Hospital

myself? My name is on the headstone and I went to see my dead daughter

and I think I put my name on the forms.

 

Verbally we did agree to share the money but nothing in writing. As

her Dad do I have any rights to make a claim? Have made a complaint to

the hospital and waiting to hear back.

 

Any help / advice would be useful.

 

Please help suffering from depression over this and want justice for

my daughter. Feel free to email me back.

 

Thanks

[HP Mum]

Poor you.

Can you just confirm though - your daughter was unborn or 20months old ?

[kymi]

I'm sorry for your loss, however not sure how you gaining a large sum of money from the NHS from losing your daughter helps get her justice.

[rebel11]

I think it's called 'Negligence', the hospital has failed to carry out a duty of care. In the scheme of things it should help the NHS improve things. If everyone sat back and did nothing, nothing would improve.

 

I'm sorry for your loss, however not sure how you gaining a large sum of money from the NHS from losing your daughter helps get her justice.

[kymi]

Yes it probably was negligence of the very worse sort, that wasn't my point.

 

The OP's ex partner is already suing the hospital, the duty of care issue is already being sorted. She was obviously the person who suffered the most, after all she can't have children and was left badly scarred. (I think she deserves whatever payout she gets).

 

The OP is obviously so distressed by the loss of his daughter he is worried to bits that he isn't going to get any of the compensation resulting from this tragedy.

 

Dreadful horrible things happen within the NHS etc and most certainly many of them are negligence and should be compensated, but so often the first thing that comes to most people's mind in today's compensation culture is how much can we get out of it.

 

I find this bit particularly distasteful.

Our relationship fell apart after the loss and she refuses to give me

any of the money,

 

Sorry if I'm a cynic, but I've seen it happen so often.

 

Kymi

Edited April 5, 2010 by kymi

[rebel11]

There is a compensation culture, but you can't sterotype, every case on it's merits. For every case the NHS deals with I'm sure a % get turned down. The NHS isn't what it once was.

[kymi]

I'm a RN and I've worked for the NHS for the last 35 years, I agree with you entirely.

There is a compensation culture, but you can't sterotype, every case on it's merits. For every case the NHS deals with I'm sure a % get turned down. The NHS isn't what it once was.

 

I now work in Governance, Risk Management which is closely liasied with Negligence, Legal claims etc so I see a lot of the claims which are put forward. We're very lucky. The Trust I work for is pretty decent, however things still do go wrong and it's very often our fault.

 

Pees me off when we fight something so obviously our fault. Also pees me off when we give in to stuff that so obviously isn't because its just cheaper in the long run to pay up.

 

Cheers

Kymi

[HP Mum]

HI - It still isn't clear from the OP whether the baby was "unborn" or "20months" ?

[kymi]

Yes a very confusing first post,

 

HI - It still isn't clear from the OP whether the baby was "unborn" or "20months" ?

 

I would suspect the baby was stillborn with additional complications for mum. I suspect she probably had to have a hystorectomy hence the scar.

 

It sounds a very sad case.

 

Kymi

[Sali]

Would the compensation culture be so bouyant if the NHS management were open and transparent in their dealings with complainants and were accountable for their failures? Would it be necessary to litigate if existing bodies (the CQC, the NMC, the GMC and the Ombudsman) actually helped and protected us before and when things go horribly wrong, rather than being the self-serving and inept organisations that they are?

[kymi]

Probably not Sali,

Would the compensation culture be so bouyant if the NHS management were open and transparent in their dealings with complainants and were accountable for their failures? Would it be necessary to litigate if existing bodies (the CQC, the NMC, the GMC and the Ombudsman) actually helped and protected us before and when things go horribly wrong, rather than being the self-serving and inept organisations that they are?

Personally I think the NHS has a huge amount to answer for, not least in the way it treats not only its patients etc but also the staff who work for them.

 

I certainly don't begrudge anyone the compensation they receive if its genuine., but I've seen many cases where its very obvious that money is the guiding factor.

 

Kymi

Edited April 7, 2010 by kymi

[Sali]

There are many people who litigate, not for profit, but for truth and justice, because the current system provides neither.

[kymi]

Umm yes I agree, but I personally didn't get the vibes from the OP that he was fighting for truth and justice, did you?

 

Call me a cynic, (many people do), but in my experience I've seen an awful lot more people fight for a cash handout than truth and justice.

 

There are many people who litigate, not for profit, but for truth and justice, because the current system provides neither.

[Sali]

No, perhaps not in this case, but many believe that grief can be assuaged by avarice.