BUPA payout over Ronald Kemble's tragic death
The daughter of a Midland pensioner who died after nursing staff at a BUPA care home wrongly inserted a feeding tube into his lung has won a "substantial" out-of-court settlement.
The daughter of a Midland pensioner who died after nursing staff at a BUPA care home wrongly inserted a feeding tube into his lung has won a "substantial" out-of-court settlement.
The daughter of 81-year-old stroke patient Ronald Kemble spoke of her anger at being "robbed of the little time she had left with her father."
Her solicitors, Birmingham-based Irwin Mitchell, have called for the mistake to be investigated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Mr Kemble, who was being cared for at the BUPA-run Warrens Hall Nursing Home in Tividale, was found sprawled across the bed and unable to breathe by his distraught daughter, Joanne Yale, who had arrived at the home to visit her father in November 2007.
The mistake, which meant Mr Kemble's right lung filled with fluid, went undetected by care staff for more than four hours and happened because nurses had relied upon an outdated and unsafe technique for inserting the tube.
Although BUPA has not formally admitted liability, it has agreed to pay the family undisclosed damages in a settlement.
An inquest in June into the death of Mr Kemble, a widower who lived in Halesowen, heard that the former manager with Stirchley-based Bookers Cash & Carry, had been fit and active before suffering a stroke in October, 2007.
As a result he needed full-time nursing care and needed to be fed via a feeding tube. From hospital he was transferred to the Warren Hall nursing home. In November 2007, two days after his arrival, two nurses carrying out a repositioning of Mr Kemble's feeding tube, wrongly inserted it into his right lung.
Mr Kemble's daughter, Joanne Yale, who lived with her father in Halesowen, said: "My dad meant the world to me.
"Following the stroke I was determined to make sure he got the best possible care and checked out five separate care homes before deciding on Warrens Hall after they told me they were able to cope with his needs and knew how to deal with a feeding tube.
"I feel so angry that they let both dad and me down so badly. They robbed me of the little time that I had left with him."
Victoria Blankstone, a medical law expert with Irwin Mitchell solicitors is calling for BUPA to prove that it has learned lessons by reviewing its procedures.
Tim Seal, regional director of BUPA, said: "We have apologised and sent our condolences to Mr Kemble's family for this tragic and exceptional incident three years ago and I would like to do so again.
"This was not a failure in our training. The national guidance is clear and available to all nurses in our care homes. Tragically, a very experienced nurse didn't follow it on this occasion."
