Scottish pensioner wins £180k payout after partner’s blood clot overlooked by medics

A grieving Glasgow pensioner who claimed doctors failed his late partner by misdiagnosing a debilitating blood clot has been awarded more than £180,000 in compensation.

George Andrews, 74, said medics at Glasgow Royal Infirmary believed his partner Jean Graham, 77, was suffering from a sickness and diarrhoea bug. Ms Graham was sent home from the hospital on two separate occasions in January 2013.

Staff at the facility made the incorrect conclusion despite the concerns of a GP who thought Ms Graham’s symptoms were consistent with intestinal bleeding.

Ms Graham was then admitted to the hospital for a third time. On this occasion, doctors found she had a blood clot in her abdomen, but were unable to save her life.

The pensioner has been awarded £180,000 in compensation. Pic: JPI/ AK-Media, Shutterstock

Mr Andrews, from Riddrie, sued Greater Glasgow Health Board at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. His lawyers argued Dr Mohamed Izzath, a junior doctor who assessed Ms Graham, was negligent in his dealings with her.

The lawyers claimed Dr Izzath failed to tell Ms Graham that she needed to be admitted to hospital.

They also argued he failed to perform a check on Ms Graham that may have helped staff diagnose her actual condition.

The court also heard Dr Izzath obtained permission to discharge Ms Graham from a consultant called Dr Stephen Cleland – but the information given to the senior doctor was incorrect.

The court was also told the GP who attended the couple’s house thought Mr Andrews was struggling to look after his partner.

In a written judgment issued yesterday at the court, judge Lord Pentland ruled in favour of Mr Andrews and awarded him a total of £184,613.83.

Lord Pentland wrote: “I conclude that the right inference to draw from the totality of the evidence is that Dr Izzath did not advise the deceased that she should have been admitted to hospital.

“In my opinion he was negligent in having failed to give the deceased that advice.”

The judge had ruled that if medics managed to successfully operate on Ms Graham, she would have likely lived for another seven and a half years.

At proceedings earlier this year, Mr Andrews told the court how he and Ms Graham had lived together for 20 years.

The retired engineer said his partner fell ill on 6 January 2013 with sickness and diarrhoea, but he suspected she had something more serious.

A GP visited their home and he also concluded her symptoms could indicate something more serious than a winter vomiting bug.