ST LUKE?S Hospice has recovered costs of caring for a patient with asbestos-related cancer for the first time.
The victory ? among the first in the country ? follows a landmark legal ruling enabling hospices to reclaim costs of looking after mesothelioma patients.
Plymouth is a hotspot for the devastating lung cancer.
Dozens of cases emerge each year among former labourers and servicemen exposed to deadly asbestos dust at the dockyard.
St Luke?s received ?8,428.79 from the Ministry of Defence for 22 nights of care given to a man who died of mesothelioma last year.
He was a plumber employed by the MoD at Devonport Dockyard between 1946 and 1987 and was exposed to asbestos while removing lagging from warships.
His family, who have received damages, claimed the care costs on behalf of the hospice.
The patient?s daughter, who asked to remain anonymous, said: ?The staff at St Luke?s were kind, caring and respectful towards my father and we couldn?t have asked for a better place for him to spend his last few weeks.
?I am over the moon that St Luke?s are to receive their costs of my father?s stay with them. They are truly a deserving charity and I hope this will help them to continue providing a wonderful, restful place for those in need of respite.?
She said her father lived an active lifestyle before developing symptoms of breathlessness in April 2010.
By July he could only walk a few yards. He was diagnosed with terminal mesothelioma in August.
He was admitted to St Luke?s in December before passing away in January 2011.
St Luke?s also provided his family with bereavement support.
George Lillie, St Luke?s director of clinical services, said: ?We are very grateful to the patient?s family, who submitted this claim to retrieve part of the costs associated with the care delivered to him whilst under our care.
?St Luke?s is reliant on the kind generosity of the people of Plymouth and surrounding areas to raise ?4.5million each year to maintain our valued services.
?Raising charitable funds has become increasingly more difficult to do so in the current economic climate we find ourselves in. Claims of this kind are a welcome boost to our fundraising efforts to maintain valued services.?
The case was handled by James Walsh, partner and head of the industrial disease unit at Wolferstans Solicitors.
He said: ?In light of the current economic climate and reduction in voluntary donations, this substantial award represents an opportunity for all hospices to recover a significant proportion of the expensive care costs of their mesothelioma patients.?
The award follows a breakthrough legal decision in which St Joseph?s Hospice in London recovered ?10,000 from a private construction company for care of a patient who developed mesothelioma.
The court found that ?the reasonable and necessary costs of a hospice providing essential palliative care in cases where a terminal decline in health was as a direct result of malignant mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos would be recoverable?.
Article source: http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/MoD-pays-cancer-care-costs-legal-ruling/story-16311691-detail/story.html
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