NHS trust fined for lack of candour with family after patient's death in landmark case
An NHS hospital has pleaded guilty to not being open with the family of a patient who died in the first criminal prosecution of its kind.
University Hospitals Plymouth Trust was fined and ordered to pay legal costs totalling £12,565 after being taken to court by the care watchdog the Care Quality Commission.
It was charged with breaching the law on duty of candour which requires NHS hospitals to be honest with patients and families when mistakes in their care happen.
The case was brought over the trust’s handling of the death of Elsie Woodfield, aged 91, at Derriford Hospital after she went in for an endoscopy procedure in December 2017.
The CQC said the trust failed to tell Elsie's family that her death, just hours later, might have been caused by a mistake during the procedure.
Elsie's daughter Anna Davidson, claimed a letter apologising for the incident, lacked "remorse".
More follows
