Settlement of £40,000 for medical negligence

An NHS Foundation Trust has reached an out of court settlement of £40,000 with the widow of a patient who died from blood poisoning caused by colitis. He was admitted to hospital suffering from stomach ache, diarrhoea and was passing blood. Doctors suspected he was suffering from colitis. The family allege that he was then left on a ward for five days without any treatment or investigations. It was eventually discovered that his bowel had ruptured and he underwent emergency surgery but he died in the intensive care unit. The case settled although the Trust did not admit liability.