Widower receives five-figure settlement after wife dies from an abdominal bleed

The 76-year-old woman, called Heather Milton, was taking anticoagulants due to her irregular heartbeat. On 16 December 2022, she arrived at Princess Royal Hospital, where she was assessed as clinically stable. 

Around four hours later, a CT scan was performed which showed that Heather had an active bleed within her abdomen. Within a few hours, her haemoglobin levels were starting to fall, and she was transferred to the Royal Sussex County Hospital.  

At the same time, the haematologist, a specialised doctor who works with blood-related conditions, recommended that Heather should receive a drug called Octaplex, which would reverse her anticoagulants and help her blood to clot. 

Heather did not receive her Octaplex for a further six hours. When she was reviewed by a surgical specialist, it was advised that, despite the delay in providing Octaplex, intervention was not recommended at that point. 

The following morning, roughly 11 hours after being refused further intervention for her ongoing bleed, Heather suffered from a cardiac arrest and died. 

An inquest was held into Heather’s death, during which witnesses for the trust apologised to the family, admitting to various failings in care, including but not limited to:

• The failure to recognise the positioning of the bleed.
• The failure to contact an interventional radiologist, which could have led to her being treated.
• Failure of nursing staff to escalate Heather’s deterioration for senior review. 

Heather’s husband Paul instructed clinical negligence solicitor Frankie Rhodes at Leigh Day who pursued a claim against the trust. Counsel Cressida Mawdesley-Thomas of 12 King’s Bench Walk was instructed to act on the family’s behalf at the inquest. 

After the inquest, Leigh Day argued that the negligent acts by the staff at the trust, meant that there were missed opportunities to save Heather’s life and that, on the balance of probabilities, she would not have died that morning. The trust admitted liability in April 2024 and Leigh Day negotiated a five-figure settlement within another few months. 

This follows Operation Bramber, which was initially launched in 2023. Sussex Police investigated care and treatment provided by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust between 2015 and 2021. There are now more than 200 cases that are being investigated, where individuals died or were injured as a result of medical negligence within general surgery and neurosurgery. 

Frankie Rhodes, senior associate solicitor at Leigh Day, said 

“The continued problems at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust are a cause of great concern. I am sure there are many more families who have been impacted by the poor care at these hospitals, which is very disheartening. I was glad to be able to support the deceased’s husband during this very sad inquest and to reach a swift resolution for the legal claim.  

“Nothing will ever bring Heather back, but at least her husband has managed to hold the trust to account and now has answers about what happened in the lead up to her death. Clearly more must be done and drastic action taken to prevent this from happening to other people in future.”