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.
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 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.
Mrs Woodfield suffered a perforated oesophagus during the endoscopy in December 2017. As a result, the procedure was abandoned, and Mrs Woodfield was transferred to the hospital’s Marlborough Ward for observations. While there she collapsed and later died.
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.
It said the trust did not share details of what had happened after the unsuccessful procedure and it failed to apologise to the family within a reasonable timeframe.
Elsie’s daughter Anna Davidson claimed a letter apologising for the incident lacked “remorse”.
She said: “Our family is very grateful to the CQC for pursuing this prosecution to a successful conclusion. All we have sought from the beginning is openness and honesty from the trust as to what occurred that day. The lack of this has been extremely hurtful and disrespectful and has had a lasting negative emotional impact on us all.
“We hope this conviction will underline to other hospitals the critical importance of advising patients and families as soon as it’s recognised mistakes have occurred and of apologising unreservedly. This will help others in similar circumstances avoid the unnecessary pain, anxiety and stress we have suffered.”
