Plymouth hospice given £7,241 damages by MoD after caring for man who worked at dockyard By Plymouth Herald | Posted: November 26, 2013 Plymouth hospice given £7,241 damages by MoD after caring for man who worked at dockyard Comments (4) A Plymouth hospice has been given more than £7,000 in damages from the Ministry of Defence after it cared for a man who worked at the citys dockyard for more than 30 years. St Lukes Hospice cared for the Plymouth man, known only as Mr X, in 2011 while he was dying as a result of asbestos induced mesothelioma. The man had worked at Devonport Dockyard between 1954 and 1988. Wolferstans Solicitors have now recovered £7,241.34, reflecting a proportion of the costs of care St Lukes gave to Mr X. Mr X was employed by the Ministry of Defence and his exposure to asbestos occurred while working afloat during the repair and refurbishment of ships at the dockyard. He worked with various fitter gangs, particularly in the engine and boiler rooms on a variety of ships where asbestos lagging was present as it was used to insulate and protect from heat on pipes carrying boiling water or steam. Mr X was admitted to St Luke’s Hospice in Plymouth in August 2011 to provide respite for the family and then spent his last week of his life at St Luke’s in September 2011. He was provided with terminal care, support and comfort from the staff at St Luke’s before passing away. St Luke’s also provided bereavement support and guidance to Mr X’s family. Wolferstans was instructed to recover damages from the Ministry of Defence for the benefit of the family to reflect the pain and suffering Mr X endured and the associated financial losses particularly relating to the care provided to Mr X. As well as recovering significant damages for the family Wolferstans was also able to include a claim on behalf of St Luke’s for a percentage of the “reasonable and necessary” care costs that were not funded from donations made to it by the Primary Care Trusts. Director of Clinical Services at St Lukes Hospice Plymouth, George Lillie said: At St Lukes we always strive to provide free End of Life and Palliative Care to those who need us most in the local community. With over £4.5 million to raise every year to maintain this service, awards from legal claims like in this case go a long way to support the hospice and fund further patient care. Cases like this are few and far between and whilst we must stress our service is free, we also feel it is important to highlight to others that there are unique cases like this where patients and their support network can make a big difference to our charity by claiming what is lawfully owed to them. We would also like to thank Wolferstans for their input on this case. The family of Mr X extended their gratitude to St Luke’s Hospice and said they hope that further funds can be recovered in these asbestos cases to help ensure the facility continues. “Compensation costs have been claimed for St Luke’s Hospice in recognition of the excellent care and end of life support given to my husband, myself and family. Grateful thanks to all concerned.” James Walsh, Partner and Solicitor at Wolferstans who helped achieve this result said: It is my mission to raise the awareness of the dangers of asbestos and the resulting fatal disease of Mesothelioma. This includes ensuring hospices around the country know that we can now recover some of their costs in providing such a fantastic service caring for the terminally ill which may enable them to continue in times when charitable donations in real terms at an all time low. Read more: plymouthherald.co.uk/Plymouth-hospice-given-7-241-damages-MoD-caring/story-20222255-detail/story.html#ixzz2mJYi0g1U
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 11:04:55 +0000
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