A FAMILY has said lessons need to be learned after a man died in hospital following a delay in diagnosing a bowel leak.

Simon Healey underwent routine surgery at the Berkshire Independent Hospital following his diagnoses of bowel cancer on August 1 last year.

Six days after the operation, Mr Healey from Finchampstead in Berkshire was diagnosed with a leaking bowel leading to sepsis.

Despite further surgery to repair the leak his condition continued to deteriorate, and he died three days later from organ failure on August 10 last year.

An inquest into his death was told that ‘alarm bells should have been ringing’ for Mr Daniel McGrath, the surgeon who carried out Mr Healey’s surgery.

They were also told that if he had undergone the surgery to repair the leak earlier, he likely would have survived.

Following Mr Healey’s death his family asked specialist medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate events that happened at Berkshire Independent Hospital.

Rebecca Brown, specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: “Alison and the rest of the family have been greatly affected by Simons death are still struggling to come to terms with what has happened.

“Simon’s case is a tragic reminder of what can happen when infections are not diagnosed promptly, and patients do not receive the treatment they require in time.”

Ramsay Health Care UK have responded to the families concerns and have apologised for the care that they delivered to Mr Healey.

They have ensured the family that an internal investigation has been completed.

A representative of Ramsay Health Care UK added: “Berkshire Independent Hospital would like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere condolences to the family of Mr Healey and apologise for the shortcomings in the care we delivered on this occasion.

“An internal investigation has been completed, which has been reviewed by the Senior Leadership Team at Berkshire Hospital to ensure that all lessons have been learnt.

“Significant progress has been made in many of the areas identified by the coroner, including implementing changes to the out of hours escalation process.

“Berkshire Independent Hospital remains committed to providing the highest standards of care to all our patients.”

Simon’s family, including his widow, Alison, have joined the legal team in asking for lessons to be learned.

Alison added: “Simon was a fit and healthy man for his age, and to see him deteriorate so quickly over such a short period of time was extremely distressing.

“I had never been told that there was a suspicion of sepsis and was not warned that Simon was seriously ill until after he was transferred to Royal Berkshire Hospital.

“Had sepsis been mentioned earlier, I would have fought to make sure that Simon was transferred sooner; instead I placed my trust in the medical staff trained to care for Simon.”