My darling Husband passed away 02 nd March 2020, despite becoming ill in August 2019, his passing was a huge shock, when first admitted we were told he had heart failure, his lung showed a trace of fibrosis. We visited the hospital monthly and were repeatedly told he was improving and his number were looking great.I asked if he needed to be seen by respiratory service and was told no. It would/should have been obvious to a medical practitioner that he was suffering. Every day for months he literally choked and started to lose weight , and was permanently exhausted. In November 2019 we went for an appointment that should have been with a heart failure consultant, instead it was a dr who proceeded to tell us how tired he was, and suggested my Husband and I take a good holiday, and he had a good five years left.The effort that it had taken to get to this appointment had been huge and an utter waste of time.
Everything continued to fall apart and we eventually saw an amazing dr who was shocked by my Husbands appearance she then arranged an appointment in January we finally got to see the hf specialist.
He said the prognosis wasnt great due to his asbestosis, this was a shock bearing in mind we had been told it wasnt an issue. The hf specialist asked us what our respiratory service thought I said we had never been seen by respiratory service. At that point there was a huge rush to see a respiratory practitioner, the hospital then booked an appointment for someone who wasnt familiar with industrial disease. I found this out when i tried to go privately Pals supported the fact my Husband had been referred to the wrong service. I phoned 52 services that day I was frantic and my Husband exhausted. We eventually saw a respiratory consultant at the end of February, he said he would liase with hf services . Unfortunately my Husband passed before this happened. On the 02 nd of March my Husband went into hospital as his oxygen levels were low , he was complaining of going
into hospital and laughing and joking one of the drs there said people can d… from this, but i am not saying your Husband will, hopefully he will be sitting up in bed in a couple of days. He also said they were moving
him back to the hf ward, I passed this news on to his family . We were then left alone for hours , after that the same dr came in and was doing something with his oxygen, I asked
what he was doing, he didn’t speak and left the room. O ur son and my parents arrived as I had expected to be going home once my Husband was moved and settled. My Husband was clearly struggling so I called in a nurse who started shouting whos turned the oxygen off , I said the Dr and I was taken out to identify him whilst my Husbands oxygen was reinstated. Unfortunately my Husband passed suddenly and despite being there didn’t say goodbye neither did his family. Several hours later a nurse came into the cubicle to do his observations.
I am utterly broken and don’t think I will ever get over this. I took out a formal complaint after 2 months and had a face to face meeting over a year later, which was a bit of a joke as neither dr or consultant turned up , I was told by the hospital independent advisor that "Drs are very busy people ". The hospital lied about a nurse coming in to do his observations, they said I was confused as it was a dr coming to register his passing. The nurse in question actually came in and apologised to me and my family , and i had sat with my Husband whilst his passing was registered. My Husbands notes clearly stated he should have been referred to respiratory services back in August 2019.Almost 4 years on and having to involve the ombudsman I am finally getting a response from 2 independent specialists and comments made by the heart failure consultant. These are due on March 16th. I am absolutely dreading it, I have asked for accountability and honesty, I am not convinced I will get either. My Husband asked me to do this incase anything happened to him, he knew he had been let down. I am now aware people do d… from heart failure, but neither primary or secondary care ever suggested that was the case, and as such I cannot prove negligence. .Infact at the face to face meeting the advocate said drs don’t like to give bad news.I said what could be worse than the person you love passing away in front of you…How am I going to cope with the findings?, Sorry this has been such a long read so thank you for taking the time to read it.I know everyone on here has a sad story and I send you all love and hope.
I definitely feel your anger, my darling man passed only last September and his medical history like yours is complicated and messy. People’s did care and most really tried their best but he was let down badly by the Cardiologists at our local hospital who didn’t spot the fact that he required a new heart valve. When a far superior medical team recognised the problem and tried to do something it was too late and i sat with him until the end. I do blame the Cardiologist and its making me bitter but i also know how much effort the new team did to help him.
Life is so cruel
Hi @Ivy1 ,
This is horrendous that you & your husband should be treated this way, my heart goes out to you at this distressing time. I hope the investigation has the guts to admit their negligence, unfortunately, especially as is the case with “professional” people, (& I use the term “professional” very loosely, as there’s nothing professional about letting a man die in such circumstances, & putting his family through so much pain & heartache,) one hand washes the other, the whole system is corrupt & sadly, we keep hearing about situations like this time & time again, where people with very real concerns get fobbed off time & time again, not getting referred when they should of been, & by the time they find the root cause of the problem, it’s too late, 
. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. All I can say is keep fighting for the truth, you & your husband deserve better.
Sending hugs of support.
Thanks for your reply sadly I fear you will be right, I don’t think I will ever get over this, my Husband was a lovely man and didnt deserve any of this.
Sending love and hope to you 
started tears that’s horrific medical meant to be professionals declining to many humans are passing away, i dont like it.
I dont trust doctors no more think they just tell us anything.
Nobody deserves to be leaving this world, my hearts feeling yer pain its not acceptable.
Hi please please contact erwin mitchell my husbsnd was let down by the nhs and they were totally amazing…u have nothing to lose…u can contact me personally if u want
Hi thank you for your email, Irwin Mitchell are already involved, this is because on the day I called 52 people an asbestos charity put me in touch with Irwin Mitchell .
I have found them very helpful, the biggest issues I have is sadly people can pass with heart failure and because of that it is very difficult to prove negligence.
In regards to the complaint I made to the hospital trust as I said the findings are now complete ,I am dreading this.The trust didnt follow procedures, and will no doubt hide behind the heart failure diagnosis. I keep thinking how will I cope if they aren’t honest , I really don’t think I can take things any further as I think the only option is a court action against the drs which I won’t be able to afford to do.So basically Irwin Mitchell are dealing with the claim for asbestosis which I imagine could take years, all I ever wanted was honesty and accountability from the hospital trust.I have no idea why my lovely man wasn’t referred to respiratory services, he absolutely struggled on a daily basis, I cannot believe that the trust can’t just answer. Thanks once again for taking the time to reply sending you love and hope 
Hi, is Irwin Mitchell available to anyone wherever you live? Myself and Mum are currently going through PALS due to the fact the NHS let my dad down and misdiagnosed his condition and we found out after he died he didn’t have lung cancer at all.
Yes. Irwin Mitchell are acting remotely for me at the moment, on probate. They also acted remotely for my friend on some kind of compensation case. I’m an hour from their nearest office and they said there’d be no need for me to come in, at all.