£475,000 for patient covered with sores who spent 8 years in hospital

Health reporter(wp/es):
A pensioner who has spent eight years in hospital because of blunders in his care while recovering from a spinal injury has received a £475,000 compensation payout. 

The 70-year-old man was taken to The Royal London Hospital by ambulance after his fall in October 2010, and was unable to feel anything below his chest. As well as spinal damage, he had fractures in his left leg, hip, and ribs, and his left lung had collapsed. Within 10 days of being hospitalised he developed pressure sores over his body due to his very limited ability to move independently.

The sores had not properly healed when he was moved in March 2011 to a spinal care unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and he then developed more pressure ulcers. Lawyers Bolt Burdon Kemp launched a compensation claim in 2015 against the two hospitals, alleging that failures in his care allowed the sores to develop and never fully heal, and hinder his rehabilitation. 

Raquel Siganporia, who leads the spinal injury team at the law firm, described the case as “beyond appalling”, saying that without complications the man should have spent only three months in a hospital bed. Instead he remains under NHS care. “This case is one of the most severe I have seen in relation to pressure sores,” she said. “It is shocking how a seemingly innocuous sore can have such devastating consequences on someone with a spinal cord injury when left without proper treatment and care. 

“My client ended up remaining in hospital for eight years as a direct result of the escalation in his condition, which was solely down to the pressure sores.” Both hospitals have now admitted negligence in failing to offer proper pressure sore care management, and a High Court judge approved £475,000 in compensation for the man’s future care. 

The claim stated that The Royal London failed to properly assess the pensioner’s needs after his accident, or recognise he was at high risk of pressure sores. He was not given proper pressure relief, skin inspections, hygiene care, or dressings while in hospital, and was not referred to a consultant plastic surgeon when the “need was obvious” on his transfer to Stoke Mandeville. 

The court was told the man had to undergo several surgical procedures and now needs specialist equipment to help him breathe. “Adapting to a spinal cord injury is already a life-changing event, without the addition of negligent treatment leading to a far worse set of conditions to contend with — conditions which my client ought never have had to face,” said Ms Siganporia. 

“Hospitals which treat spinal-injured patients need to improve the training they have about why pressure sores should be prevented, how to aid prevention, and the need for close monitoring and extreme vigilance. That two hospitals failed my client so badly is beyond appalling and I hope to see improvements in this field immediately.”

The case was concluded last month. A joint statement from Barts Health NHS trust and Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS trust, which run the two hospitals, said: “We sincerely apologise that our treatment fell below the standard our patients rightly expect and we recognise the significant effect this has had on this particular patient. 

“Preventing and treating pressure ulcers is one of the NHS’s most important safety priorities. In recent years we’ve taken a range of actions including enhancing training for staff.”

Quarter of older teenage girls have a mental illness and nearly half have self-harmed, study shows

Health reporter(wp/es):

One in eight children in England has a mental disorder — with the illness found in almost a quarter of older teenage girls, a shock report revealed today.

The most detailed NHS analysis in almost 15 years of mental ill health in children also detected problems in those as young as two.

Girls aged 17 to 19 were twice as likely as boys of the same age to have a mental disorder, with 23.9 per cent found to have a condition.

Within the same age group, which was the most troubled and had the highest rates of self-harm, emotional disorder was found in 22.4 per cent of girls — more than three times the incidence in boys.

A quarter of 11 to 16-year-olds with a mental disorder had self-harmed or attempted suicide. This rose to 46 per cent of those in the 17 to 19 age group.

Today’s study, published by NHS Digital, is the first looking at prevalence of mental ill health in children since 2004.

It did not explain what was driving the rise in mental ill health, although children were asked about the impact of social media and cyber bullying. 

Tom Foley, of NHS Digital, said: “These figures reflect the suffering and some of the difficulties a proportion of children and young people have to cope with.”

It collated information from 9,117 children and young people or their parents or teachers. For the first time, those aged two to four were included.

There was a slight increase in incidence in the five to 15 age group from 10.1 per cent in 2004 to 11.2 per cent last year. This rose to 12.8 per cent when 15 to 19 year olds were included but there was no direct comparison with previous years. 

Disorders were grouped into four categories — emotional, behavioural, hyperactivity and less common disorders. One in 18 (5.5 per cent) pre-school children — those aged two to four — were found to have at least one mental disorder. Behavioural disorders were found in one in 40 pre-schoolers.

One in 20 older teenage girls had body dystrophic disorder, an anxiety disorder characterised by the obsessive idea that some aspect of their body or appearance is severely flawed and warrants exceptional measures to hide or fix.

The figures came as the Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, revealed that of the 338,000 children referred to mental health services, only 31 per cent received help within a year. She called for an NHS-funded counsellor in every school.

Berkeley denies claims of bribery from former finance director

Business correspondent(wp/es):

Housebuilder Berkeley has denied claims of bribery from a sacked former finance director, which emerged in court documents on Thursday.

The documents relate to a High Court battle between Nic Simpkin, who was fired in 2014, and the major London builder, led by industry veteran Tony Pidgley.

The High Court papers revealed by the Guardian and Finance Uncovered relate to two cases brought against the firm by Simpkin, who had options over 3.5 million shares worth tens of millions of pounds when he was ousted. 

In the documents related to the second case in 2015, Simpkin accused the Berkeley chairman of being “consistently engaged in bribing one of the partners in a major estate agency” which the firm dealt with over land acquisitions, including “expensive gifts” and “loans”. 

Simpkin withdrew both cases but the High Court papers lodged by Berkeley in its defence show the company denying claims that Pidgley had benefited from “around” £660,000 of money to fit out one of his flats, as well as “inappropriate” payments to his son.

Berkeley settled with Simpkin for £9.5 million, including £4.55 million in legal fees, 18 months ago. In court documents Berkeley claimed Simpkin had lost the confidence of senior colleagues. 

A group spokesman said: “There was a thorough and extensive investigation by a QC and a senior lawyer from a major law firm which concluded that these allegations were unfounded, following which Mr Simpkin withdrew his allegations and settled all his claims.” 

Simpkin said Berkeley’s counter-claims were “unfounded”.

Lawyer still fighting to reclaim £1m from ‘conman’ lover 10 years on

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A high-flying lawyer who handed vast sums of money to her “confidence trickster” ex-lover is still trying to claw back more than £1 million over a decade after they split, the High Court was told.

Moira O’Hara, 56, was “deeply in love” with film director Paul Markham and started giving him money just weeks after they first met. He promised to pay her back with profits from a French film project, but was later exposed as a “charming and convincing” conman who used the money to buy a fine art collection. Mr Markham, now 75, was ordered in 2009 to pay back the money but still owes more than £1 million, the court was told.

In their latest legal battle, Mr Markham claimed Miss O’Hara was holding onto £900,000 worth of his possessions, including an 18th century Chinese pot. But Mr Justice Males threw out the case on Tuesday as an “abuse of process”, accusing Mr Markham of putting “fanciful” values on his property and using the courts to “harass” Miss O’Hara, once married to a judge. 

She met Mr Markham while doing voluntary work at a citizen’s advice bureau in 1999, and they lived together between 2003 and 2005. 

In 2009 Judge Philip Raynor QC described Mr Markham as a “convincing and effective confidence trickster” as he rejected his claim that Miss O’Hara had given him money as gifts.

Mr Markham claimed the cash was in return for business advice, emotional support and help in looking after her three children, but Judge Raynor  dismissed this as “untrue”, “fiction” and “unbelievable”. Mr Markham was ordered to pay back £850,000, plus nearly £300,000 in interest which has continued to build since then, and also hand over a £1 million property in Notting Hill which he held on trust for Miss O’Hara.

“Her conduct was extraordinary but she was deeply in love with Mr Markham,” said Judge Raynor. 

“I find that love and Mr Markham’s charm, persuasion and lies clouded her reason and common sense.”

Mr Markham lost an appeal against the ruling and was hit with an asset freezing order, but has only handed back a fraction of the money in the following years. 

“His conduct is obsessive and part of a wider campaign to cause distress to Miss O’Hara,” said her barrister, Daisy Brown.

Ruling on the latest case, Mr Justice Males said: “It is quite clear he has no intention of paying anything to Miss O’Hara.” The judge added that Mr Markham, who has no known address and claims to have no assets, may be ordered to stop making future “meritless” court applications against Miss O’Hara.

Police arrest man after makeshift bombs found in London flat

Crime reporter(wp/Reuters):

British police arrested a man on Thursday after two makeshift bombs were found in an unoccupied flat in northwest London but said he did not have links to any terrorist organisations.

Police were called on Wednesday to a flat in Harlesden, northwest London, after the two devices were found, triggering an investigation by counter-terrorism officers.

The 48-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosive Substances Act.

“At this early stage of the investigation, detectives do not believe that the arrested man has links to any terrorist organizations, or that there are any ongoing public safety issues,” police said.

Britain is on its second-highest threat level after several attacks in 2017.

EU, UK agree Brexit text, but gaps remain before summit

Political reporter(wp/Reuters):
Britain and the European Union agreed a draft text setting out a close post-Brexit relationship, officials said, though wrangles over fish and the future of Gibraltar must still be settled before leaders meet on Sunday.

Thursday’s news sent the pound nearly one percent higher on relief among investors that 18 months of tense negotiation were bearing fruit, keeping Britain close to its biggest market and ensuring nothing much will change for at least two years.

British Prime Minister Theresa May told reporters in London: “The British people want this to be settled, they want a good deal that sets us on course for a brighter future ... That deal is within our grasp and I am determined to deliver it.”

EU officials said there was a solid consensus that remaining niggles should not hold up a final deal for Sunday, as the other 27 governments go through the new paperwork. The main question mark is over whether Spain, seeing Brexit as an opportunity to swing the EU’s weight behind its 300-year campaign to reclaim Gibraltar from Britain, can be persuaded to remain patient.

After a draft treaty last week set the terms for Britain’s departure in March, May had met EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday, hoping to finalise an ambitious declaration on future ties that can help her secure backing at home for the whole Brexit package in the teeth of furious parliamentary opposition, even within her own party.

She is due to meet Juncker again on the eve of the summit, at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Saturday, and a spokesman for Juncker said that by then there should nothing much left to sort out.

With Spain, France and other EU member states lobbying for various national vested interests in that political declaration - a 26-page wishlist on future trade and security ties separate from the 585-page withdrawal agreement - there was concern in Brussels that haggling could get out of hand and derail Sunday’s tightly choreographed formal summit of the 27 leaders with May.

Summit chair Donald Tusk said: “It has been agreed at negotiators’ level and agreed in principle at political level.”

PARKED

EU sources told Reuters that other demands from governments would be parked in a separate page or two of short text to be endorsed at the summit. French calls for access to British fishing grounds and insistence that post-Brexit Britain follow EU environment, tax, labour and industrial rules are largely drafted, leaving a gap for Spain’s concerns that Madrid be given an effective veto over applying any future deal to Gibraltar.

The main text of the political declaration, seen by Reuters, said the EU and Britain “agree to develop an ambitious, wide-ranging and balanced economic partnership.

“This partnership will be comprehensive, encompassing a free trade area as well as wider sectoral cooperation ... will be underpinned by provisions ensuring a level playing field.”

Crucially for May, it commits the EU to looking for ways to avoid triggering a “backstop” clause intended to ensure the Irish border remains free of customs checks. Those include, it says, technical and administrative means favoured by May’s pro-Brexit allies that could limit Britain’s need to keep its broader economic and trade rules in line with the continent.

The European Commission said Juncker encouraged May to talk with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, which they had done late on Wednesday, and that Gibraltar, along with some questions on fishing, were what remained unresolved.

The text said the post-Brexit relationship would respect “the integrity of the Union’s Single Market and the Customs Union as well as the United Kingdom’s internal market, and recognise the development of an independent trade policy by the United Kingdom beyond this economic partnership”.

The latter point responds to complaints from May’s key parliamentary allies in Northern Ireland that the EU plan to avoid a hard border with EU-member Ireland could isolate the province from the British mainland. The former deals with EU concern that Britain is using the Irish question to get special access to the EU market while dispensing with its regulations.

Both sides need an accord to keep trade flowing between the world’s biggest trading bloc and the fifth largest national economy. But May has struggled to untangle nearly 46 years of membership without damaging trade or upsetting the members of parliament who will ultimately decide the fate of any deals she can secure.

Despite the hopes of financial firms in London, Britain secured no improvements to its proposed future trading relations in financial services.

May updated her cabinet on the state of talks by teleconference but her spokesman cautioned that no final deal can be agreed ahead of the EU summit on Sunday. In practice, however, EU leaders who will meet for an hour before they meet May, want all negotiating finished before.

The transition period, currently due to end after 21 months in December 2020, can be extended for up to two years. May has said it must end before a British election due in mid-2021.