An investigation has found that a 56-year-old man with Down syndrome died in a British hospital after he wasn’t fed for nine days.
According to the BBC, the man died in 2021 after what has been described as “shocking mismanagement” by medical professionals at Poole General Hospital in Dorset. The man, who had Down syndrome and dementia, was admitted to the hospital with a broken hip. He then ended up dying from pneumonia, after he wasn’t given any food or fluids for nine days.
The man’s family launched an investigation following his death. Allegations against the hospital maintained that its failure to properly care for the man led to “his subsequent severe deterioration and death.” After six months, the NHS Litigation Authority, NHS Resolution found the hospital’s actions did fail to provide adequate care, saying “on balance of probability, the admitted breach of duty caused a deterioration… and he would not have died when he did.”
As a result, the man’s family has now been given £22,500 [approximately $28,400 USD] in compensation.
“This was a shocking case. It was mismanagement by the hospital. In NHS terms, it was a ‘never event’ – clinical negligence that should never have happened,” said Adrian Cormack, a lawyer for the family.
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The Down’s Syndrome Association also responded to the incident.
“We were appalled and distressed to read the details of the recent case of failing in care of a gentleman who had Down’s syndrome, who died whilst in hospital in Poole,” it said in a statement. “Acute hospitals should have specially trained learning disability liaison nurses to provide additional advice and support to the team caring for a patient who has a learning disability and, of course, all staff should be skilled in meeting the needs of any patient who has a learning disability and additional vulnerabilities, such as dementia.”
The organization went on: “We very much hope that the hospital team will learn from this tragic case and ensure that systems are put in place to ensure that these failings could never be repeated.”
This isn’t the first instance of a man with Down syndrome dying as a result of medical neglect in the U.K.; in 2021, a 32-year-old man died after multiple instances of failures and neglect. Preborn children with a diagnosis of Down syndrome also face discrimination in the womb, as it is legal to kill them at any point in pregnancy. These instances are part of an ongoing trend in the U.K., in which people with disabilities are routinely discriminated against and unable to get the medical care they deserve.
