Sussex hospitals trust settles with family of Burgess Hill man who died following complications after heart surgery

Retired project manager Ralph Sims, 65, was a patient at Brighton’s Royal Sussex County Hospital and passed away on May 25, following complications after heart surgery.

The Trust has apologized to the family of the keen runner and fundraiser, who said ‘Ralph’s death should have been avoided’.

A Trust spokesperson told the Middy: “We have extended our condolences, and apologies, to the Sims family for their loss and the tremendous upset they have suffered. The care given to Mr Sims in 2019 was not of the standard that he and his family should have been able to expect, and we are deeply sorry for that.”

Law firm Irwin Mitchell said Ralph’s family instructed their medical negligence lawyers to investigate Ralph’s care.

Thomas Riis-Bristow, a specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: “Ralph’s loved ones continue to be deeply traumatised by his death.”

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He said: “While nothing can ever fully rectify the family’s and Ralph’s suffering, we’re pleased that, through the legal process, we’ve been able to provide Ralph’s loved ones with the answers they deserve. It’s now vital that the Hospital Trust learns lessons from the failings Ralph suffered to improve patient safety for others.”

Irwin Mitchell also issued a statement from Ralph’s family who called him ‘a wonderful, husband, and father, who was adored by all of his family’.

They said: “He was a keen runner and used his love of running to help others, taking part in many fundraising events in aid of charity.

“While heart surgery isn’t something minor, when he went into hospital we never imagined the events that unfolded and he’d never come home. Seeing him in those final weeks was so upsetting. Ralph was a genuinely kind man who didn’t deserve to suffer and die in the way he did.”

They added: “The hardest thing to try and come to terms with is that Ralph’s death should have been avoided. Whilst the Trust has apologised to our family it feels hollow. Ralph’s death was entirely unnecessary, and despite the issues in his care, it took the Trust several years to apologise.”