Family sue over weight-loss surgery death

Severe pain: Kim Blake, 33, died after treatment by Dugal Heath at The Whittington Hospital
Sophie Goodchild12 April 2016

The parents of a woman who died after weight-loss surgery are taking legal action against the hospital where she received care.

Janet and Jim Blake’s daughter Kim, 33, was one of six patients to die following treatment by Dugal Heath, who was a consultant general surgeon at The Whittington Hospital in Archway. He was struck off in February.

The Blakes are seeking compensation on behalf of Kim’s daughter Chloe, 12, following her mother’s death in 2010.

Janet Blake, 67, who lives with her husband and Chloe in north London, said: “It was the right decision to strike [Mr Heath] off. One person dying was bad enough — he should have been struck off before six died.

“We are taking action on behalf of our granddaughter who has to live without her mother.” The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, which removed Mr Heath, 59, from the medical register, found no suggestion that he was directly responsible for the six deaths.

However, they found he committed errors and his “deficient professional performance” was a risk to patients. This included accidentally damaging internal organs during surgery, subjecting patients to the wrong procedures, and failing to spot signs that one patient was deteriorating after an operation. Kim Blake, who was registered blind, underwent a gastric bypass. She died, severely malnourished , from complications of bariatric surgery, an inquest at Poplar coroner’s court heard.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal found Mr Heath had failed to carry out an adequate examination of her intestine, where there was believed to have been an obstruction, and made numerous clinical errors during her care.

Ms Blake, of Kentish Town, complained of severe pain and vomiting after the procedure, but Mr Heath said her symptoms were “psychological”.

Mr Heath, who was not at the hearing, stayed at the Whittington for two more years after Ms Blake’s death. Between 2010 and 2012, other patients died and he was found to have made a series of errors in their care. They included Jane White, 39, who suffered complications after a gastric bypass. In another case, an 84-year-old patient with kidney failure underwent the wrong procedure.

Mr Heath was eventually “excluded” from working at the Whittington in December 2012, pending investigations, after concerns were raised.

Whittington Health NHS trust said it was “truly sorry”. It said it had cooperated fully with the investigation into Mr Heath and had improved its bariatric service since his departure.

At his £1.2 million house in Kingston, Mr Heath refused to comment on any of the allegations against him, saying: “I don’t want to talk to you.”

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