An Inquest in to the death of Emma Stone, a 12 year old girl suffering from cerebral palsy, heard that her death could have been avoided if the care she received in Tameside General Hospital had not been 'inadequate'.
The report suggests that her body may have been left undiscovered for a number of hours before staff noticed she was no longer breathing. Under pressure hospital staff are thought to have missed important checks and failed to maintain Emma's medical notes properly as they were 'busy'.
Paul McNeil, head of Medical Negligence at Fieldfisher commented:
"The upsetting and catastrophic series of events leading to Emma's death demonstrates that patients up and down the country are not being provided with an acceptable level of care. Whether this is as a result of budget cuts, staff shortages or individual acts of medical negligence, this disturbing and sad death could have been avoided if basic care had been provided. We find ourselves celebrating the achievements of the NHS at the opening ceremony of the Olympics and yet with further cuts to the NHS earmarked by the government, the lessons to be learnt from Emma's death will undoubtedly become even harder to achieve."
To read more about this article please click this link to the BBC Website.
If you, or a member of your family, wish to enquire about a potential medical negligence claim you can contact Paul McNeil directly on 0330 460 6804 or email paul.mcneil@fieldfisher.com