Family of WWII veteran awarded compensation by Basildon Hospital
The family of a 93-year-old WWII veteran who suffered a serious knee injury whilst in Basildon Hospital in Essex has been awarded £15,000 in compensation which they have pledged to charity.
Posted on 15 January 2019
Great-grandfather Sidney Gold had been at the hospital following a bout of pneumonia. He was due to leave the hospital when his right cruciate knee ligament was torn, leaving him unable to walk.
Sidney’s daughter Roberta told the Sunday Mirror that she found her Dad slumped on a bedside chair in a pool of urine, clutching his swollen knee and crying in agony.
He told his daughter that his knee had banged on the metal frame of the bed when a physiotherapy assistant tried to move him from bed without a colleague’s help, contrary to guidance in his medical notes.
According to his family Sidney suffered months of excruciating pain with the injury and died from pneumonia six months later, in June 2015.
Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust denied allegations of care failings. However, after a three-year legal battle the trust has agreed to pay his family the £15,000 in an out-of-court settlement.
Roberta told the Sunday Mirror:
“My father was full of life and a very independent man.
“He would have still been here with us today if it wasn’t for the injury caused at Basildon Hospital. What happened has devastated our family. We haven’t even had an apology.”
Mr Gold served with the RAF in the Second World War, driving trucks with parts for armoury and planes. In April 1945 he helped liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Emma Jones, from law firm Leigh Day, who represented Mr Gold’s family said:
“Whilst I am pleased that the Trust has finally agreed to settle this claim it could have been done sooner to reduce legal costs and bring closure sooner for the family.
“The treatment and care of Sidney was, in the opinion of our clients, below standard and raised serious issues around a simple lack of care and respect for vulnerable patients, issues which are sadly very similar to those raised in many of our previous cases against this same Trust.”
A trust spokesman said: “We can confirm that the settlement of a claim brought by Mr Gold’s family has been agreed between the parties.
“We would like to express our sincere sympathy to Mr Gold’s family. The death of a loved one is a cause of great sadness in any circumstance.”