Rodney Nelson-Jones has
recovered compensation for the cost of a claimant’s hospice care in
a case that is thought to be the first of its kind. Hospices are
generally exclusively funded by charitable donations. As part of
the settlement, the firm was able to recover £12,500 to be paid
over to the hospice.
The case arose out of the death of a 64 year old man due to
mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer,
in December 2007 after spending his final days being cared for in a
North London Hospice dedicated to cancer patients.
Throughout his life he had worked as a carpenter, painter and
labourer. In 1963, whilst employed as a painter for J Murphy &
Sons Ltd, he was exposed to asbestos dust whilst sanding down and
filling in walls in prefabricated housing containing asbestos. He
was then exposed to further asbestos when working for them at a
factory in Dagenham, cleaning debris from the guttering on roofs
made from corrugated asbestos.
In August 2005 he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos
related cancer on the lining of one of his lungs. He was eventually
admitted to the hospice where he spent the last month of his
life.
Rodney Nelson-Jones, partner in the Asbestos Claims Group at
Field Fisher Waterhouse, was instructed to claim compensation on
behalf of the family. The firm was able to recover £170,000 from J
Murphy & Sons Ltd, £12,500 of which is being paid to the
hospice which provided him with care worth over £400 a day.
This is thought to be the first time that compensation has been
recovered for a patient’s hospice care, which is usually funded by
charitable donations. It has long been possible to recover
compensation for the value of care provided by relatives. FFW’s
innovation has been to extend this principle to charitable care
provided by hospices. The firm plans to continue to claim the cost
of hospice care in future mesothelioma cases.
Rodney Nelson-Jones commented:
“We are delighted to have been able to
secure extra funding for the hospice. Hospices do a wonderful job
and rely on charitable donations to provide much needed palliative
care for cancer patients. We hope that this case will mean that
they are now provided with an additional source of funding.”
For further information or if you have an mesothelioma claim please call Rodney Nelson-Jones
on
020 7861 4022 or email rodney.nelson-jones@ffw.com.
You can discuss your mesothelioma
claim with any member of our mesothelioma team on freephone 0800 358
3848, email personalinjury@ffw.com or
complete our short enquiry form.