Our client, Alexander Rennie, sought our advice after his mother, Dorothy, from Weston-Super-Mare, died prematurely following inadequate treatment at Weston General Hospital.
Mrs Rennie was referred by her GP for treatment following a series of severe urinary infections which had begun to affect her mental health and mobility.
The hospital placed Mrs Rennie into an assessment ward but staff did not medically assess her needs. Two weeks later she was transferred to another ward - again without being assessed, in breach of a standard requirement for patient transfers.
While in hospital, she was taken to a commode by a nurse who did not return. Mrs Rennie tried to take herself back to bed but fell and fractured her femur while doing so.
Mrs Rennie had surgery on her broken leg following her fall but, despite initial signs of recovery, she developed a pulmonary embolism and died eight days later.
Following her death, her son Alexander Rennie sought advice from his union, Unite the Union, and medical negligence experts Thompsons Solicitors to investigate the case.
Thompsons and Unite Legal Services secured £9,000 in compensation for the Rennie family.
Alexander Rennie, from Bristol, said: “It was so awful to see our mother in so much pain in her final days. We tried to explain time and again that her mental abilities were declining but the staff didn’t seem to take any notice.
“When she had her fall we were promised a meeting – but that never happened. When she died they again promised to meet us, but we are still yet to hear from them about this. We’re grateful to Unite Legal Services and Thompsons for helping us to shine a light on what happened and identifying where mistakes were made by the Trust. We hope they will learn serious lessons.”