§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2012

Taaffe v East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust

[2012] EWHC 1335 (QB)·High Court (Queen's Bench Division)·18 May 2012

Paramedics attended Mrs Taaffe for severe chest pain, found it had subsided, took two ECGs (one flagged by the machine as abnormal) and left her to see her GP the next day; she died of a heart attack five days later. The judge found the paramedics failed to take a proper history or assess her risk factors and should have advised hospital attendance, where her condition would have been found and treated.

Outcome

Claimant succeeded

Sum stated in judgment

£119,048

Claim type

Cardiac Negligence

Decided

Liability and damages decided at trial

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§ WHAT HAPPENED

The facts, in brief.

Defendant: East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust · this trust’s claims data

Injury: Fatal heart attack five days after paramedics attended for chest pain and did not advise hospital attendance (deceased aged fifty)

Specialty: Paramedic / pre-hospital emergency care; cardiology · England

§ WHAT THE COURT SAID

In the judgment’s own words.

“The Claimant's claims succeed. Negligence on the part of the paramedics is established and I award damages in the sum of £119,048.13.”

The money

Damages awarded of £119,048.13, including bereavement, funeral expenses and dependency; a 40% discount was applied for the risk the marriage would have ended.

§ WHY IT MATTERS

What this case shows.

Ambulance crews owe a duty to take a proper history and weigh risk factors, not just current symptoms, before deciding not to convey a chest-pain patient. Where hospital assessment would have prevented the death, the ambulance trust is liable.

About cardiac negligence claims →

§ MORE CARDIAC NEGLIGENCE JUDGMENTS

Claimant succeeded

Dakin v South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2026] EWCC 26·2026·Liability decided at trial

A theatre nurse with worsening palpitations saw a hospital physician who admittedly failed to arrange 24-hour ECG monitoring. The judge found monitoring would have caught her atrial fibrillation in time for anticoagulants to prevent the stroke she suffered.

Palpitations that keep coming back need proper heart-rhythm monitoring. Where a missed test would have led to blood-thinning treatment, a later stroke can be laid at the hospital's door.

Claimant succeeded

HQA v Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2025] EWHC 2121 (KB)·2025·Liability decided at trial

A 25-year-old with congenital heart disease suffered a severe brain injury when her aorta was cut during a high-risk repeat sternotomy and it took around 24 minutes to get her onto full bypass. The judge found the surgeon should have exposed the femoral vessels in advance (saving around 13 minutes) and that consent was deficient; she would still have gone ahead with the operation, but with that precaution taken.

Surgeons planning a known high-risk operation must take reasonable precautions beforehand and tell the patient about them; a court can find negligence in planning and consent even where the intra-operative error itself was not negligent.

Claim failed

Negus & Anor v Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

[2021] EWHC 643 (QB)·2021·Liability decided at trial

The executors of Mrs Neill argued her surgeon should have enlarged the aortic root to fit a larger valve rather than implant a 19mm mechanical valve, and failed to warn her about that option. Eady J found the valve choice was not negligent and, although the possibility of root enlargement should have been mentioned, it would have made no difference to her decision.

A consent failure only leads to compensation if the patient would have made a different choice with proper information. Surgical decisions supported by a responsible body of opinion are not negligent just because another surgeon would have done differently.

All cardiac negligence judgments →

Contains information licensed under the Open Justice - Licence v2.0. Judgments from Find Case Law, The National Archives. Summaries are ours; amounts only where printed in the judgment.

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