Attwaters Solicitors

A woman has been waiting for more than two years for an Essex coroner to conduct an inquest into her mother’s death, as lawyers call the delay ‘shocking’.
Mrs Joan Townson of Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire died in the Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow, Essex, in May 2008. She was 67, and had undergone surgery to remove her ovaries.
After surgery it was realized that she had suffered a perforated bowel, and she died several days later.
In the circumstances Mrs Townson’s daughter, Mrs Joanne Benge also of Sawbridgeworth, asked lawyers to begin civil proceedings against the hospital. The lawyers first contacted the Essex coroner’s office in June 2008, regarding arrangement and a date for the inquest.
Since then, the coroner’s office has been approached a number of times. The last occasion was last month, when the case was said to be ‘in the backlog’. It is not yet scheduled and there is still no indication of when it might take place.
The delay naturally causes anguish for Mrs Townson’s family. Madeline Seibert is a clinical negligence lawyer and partner at Attwaters in Harlow, who are managing the case. She explains that Mrs Townson’s family are anxious for a full inquest to take place as soon as possible.
‘It’s only too easy to imagine the anguish of Mrs Townson’s family, in having her death hanging over them for more than two years,’ she says. ‘They have had no opportunity to hear at an inquest all the circumstances her tragic and untimely death.
‘Also, Mrs Townson’s family are very distraught at the manner of their mother’s death and understandably want the hospital to reveal what may have gone wrong. In these circumstances the inquest is extremely important to them.
‘The inquest may very well impact upon the civil case and may also provide valuable evidence as to what went wrong.
‘So we’ve been waiting over two years so far, and there is absolutely no clue from the coroner’s office as to when the inquest might be scheduled. For all we know it might not be for many more months yet.
‘It’s difficult to say what has gone wrong with the inquest system. It may be that it is severely under-resourced.
‘Yet, whatever the cause of these delays, it is a shocking and disrespectful way to treat families and clearly they deserve much better.’