Ambulance trust settles claim for family of Surrey man who died after being dropped

Posted: 20/07/2011

Penningtons Solicitors LLP has settled a claim for the family of Kenneth Thomas of Esher who died in July 2009 after he was dropped by an ambulance crew and hit his head while being carried into an ambulance. The key issue in this claim was the failure of the ambulance crew to document and report the incident which meant that the hospital caring for Mr Thomas did not investigate the possibility of a head injury until it was too late for him to receive treatment.

Mr Thomas, 81, was receiving treatment for prostate cancer when he attended Kingston Hospital, Surrey, on 23 June 2009 suffering from a headache. After being seen by a doctor, he was discharged home but the headache persisted. After vomiting and feeling very unwell on the morning of 25 June, his wife called the GP who attended and called an ambulance.

As Mr Thomas was taken downstairs to the ambulance in a carry chair, it slipped from the grasp of one of the ambulance crew transporting him. Mr Thomas fell backwards and banged his head on the bottom step of the stairs. This incident was not recorded in any of the documents prepared by the ambulance crew nor was it recorded by the nurse who took Mr Thomas' history when the ambulance crew arrived at Kingston Hospital.

After admission to hospital, the headaches were noted but not the head injury. A CT scan was suggested but not carried out until 30 June revealing both a chronic and acute subdural haemorrhage. By this stage, Mr Thomas was not in a strong enough condition to undergo surgery. His condition deteriorated after the CT scan and he passed away on 5 July 2009.

An inquest was held at Woking Coroner’s Court, Surrey, on 28 October 2010 and heard by the Deputy Coroner for Surrey, Dr Karin Englehart. She heard evidence on the events of the 25 June and subsequently and also in relation to Mr Thomas's health in general and planned treatment for his cancer. After her summing up, the coroner returned a narrative verdict that included: "Mr Kenneth Thomas, who was a sick man but not a very sick man, sustained a fall that was not made known to the hospital and which may or may not have hastened his death."

Following the inquest, a Letter of Claim was submitted to the Ambulance Service alleging that the fall that caused the injury to Mr Thomas’ head was itself evidence of negligence and, when acting in the ordinary course of their duties, an ambulance crew should not drop a patient. The coroner had concluded that the ambulance crew had not passed on the history of the fall and head injury to the hospital and the Trust indicated during the investigation that the fall should have been documented and reported to the hospital. The claim was submitted on the basis that there was a failure to properly document and report the incident.

In terms of the cause of Mr Thomas's death, the pathologist's evidence was that the trauma of a head injury caused an acute haematoma (bleeding) and that this caused or contributed to his death. This evidence was supported by Mr Thomas's cancer surgeon who emphasised that, although Mr Thomas had prostate cancer, he was otherwise leading a fit and active life, he would have tolerated chemotherapy and was coping well with his treatment until this incident. With chemotherapy, his life would have been extended for months or even a year.

Following submission of the Letter of Claim, negotiations were entered into and a settlement agreed without the need for Court proceedings.

The matter was conducted by Philippa Luscombe, partner in the clinical negligence team at Penningtons Solicitors LLP. She commented: "This was a very sad case where Mr Thomas died unexpectedly in circumstances that were particularly traumatic for his family. The incident itself was unfortunate but it was worrying that the ambulance crew involved did not appreciate the potential significance of the incident and the importance of documenting and reporting it. As a result, the staff who admitted Mr Thomas to hospital were unaware of the possibility of a bleed following a head injury.

"The coroner carried out a full enquiry and we were pleased that the Ambulance Service themselves also fully investigated the events and made changes to their procedures and training which will hopefully prevent this happening again."

Mr Thomas's family stated: "We had never envisaged that we would lose Ken at this time and it was very distressing for us to see him in pain and rapidly deteriorating. To find out about the bleed at a stage when he had deteriorated too far to operate was very hard. While he was ill, he was positive about starting further treatment for his cancer and we all lost our opportunity to spend more time with him. We were very concerned to find that the head injury had not been documented and reported as we assumed that it had been. We did not know the potential significance ourselves and relied on those managing him to do so. We hope that this draws attention to the need to take any blow to the head very seriously."

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