Family pursues legal claim after father dies at Royal Sussex County Hospital

David Daly died aged 52 at Royal Sussex County Hospital (RSCH) in Brighton on 19 September 2019 eight days after emergency surgery for a bleed on the brain.

David had been admitted to RSCH on 10 September 2019 and was operated on late in the evening into the early hours of 11 September.

His daughter, Becky Goodchild has “a lot of questions” and believes that earlier surgery may have led to a better outcome for David.

The case was being investigated by police as part of Operation Bramber, but it was deemed not to meet the bar for criminal investigation.

David’s family say that they did not know that the case had been referred to Operation Bramber, until the police contacted them to let them know that it would not be included in the criminal investigation.

The case was then referred to Leigh Day solicitor Adam Lamb, who requested David’s medical records.

In the records disclosed, Adam Lamb found a whistleblower had flagged their “concerns about the treatment and care” that David received, as well as “poor leadership in the hospital” that may have contributed to his death.

The whistleblower’s report described being “very concerned” about David’s care in the RSCH neurosurgery department and further questioned whether particular procedures had been followed correctly, or carried out at all.

The Royal College of Surgeons has guidelines to encourage surgeons to carry out a number of surgeries a year. However, it is a matter of record that David’s surgeon had not completed a similar surgery in 2019.

Becky Goodchild said:

“Since reading the whistleblowers report and being contacted by the police, my family and I have been left with many unanswered questions about my Dad’s treatment and care at RSCH.  We were very upset to read that shortcomings in the standard of surgical care may have led to his premature death. I look forward to working alongside my legal team to uncover the truth and find justice for my Dad.”

Adam Lamb said:

“I am extremely concerned about the concerns raised by the whistleblower in this case. Mr Daly died in 2019 and the whistleblower's report was filed in 2020. It was only after we requested Mr Daly’s records from the Trust this year that we uncovered the whistleblowers concerns.

“By not sharing details of the whistleblower’s concerns at the time, the hospital has failed in their duty of candour towards Mr Daly’s grieving family.”