Families seeking answers about lung disease care at Epsom & St Helier Hospitals

Laura and Daniel’s Story

“Without answers, I can’t move forward.”

Daniel, 48, lived with Interstitial Lung Disease and had been receiving treatment at Epsom and St Helier for several years. In late 2023, his condition deteriorated rapidly. While he was still alive, the Trust contacted him to raise concerns about the care he had received, something Laura describes as a “double trauma”, arriving at the same time she was preparing to lose him.

Daniel had been prescribed Roflumilast, a medication not licensed to treat ILD in the UK, for five years without the regular review expected for such a progressive condition. Only after Laura made a formal complaint did she begin to learn that Daniel’s experience reflected a wider pattern of treatment failures identified by the Trust.

Even today, she feels she has been left “in a silo”, without clarity on where Daniel’s case sits in the broader picture.

“Daniel’s death was avoidable and premature, and Laura understandably has so many questions around what happened and why. The fact there are so many other ILD cases also being investigated by this Trust gives cause for great concern,” says senior associate Nadia Saber.

“Knowing that, had Daniel received better care, they could have enjoyed so many more years together will haunt Laura forever. We will support Laura in every way possible to find the answers and accountability she needs and deserves.”

What the Trust’s investigation found

A review by the Trust identified major, systemic failings across 216 ILD patient cases, including:

• Failure to Investigate: 20% receiving insufficient diagnostic investigation
• Missed Referrals: 42% not referred to the specialist ILD multidisciplinary team (MDT)
• Lack of Treatment: 30% receiving no treatment despite progressive illness
• Inappropriate Treatment: 9% receiving inappropriate or unsuitable treatment

The investigation centred on care delivered by Veronica Varney, a respiratory consultant at St Helier Hospital. She was referred to the General Medical Council (GMC) in October 2023 and left the Trust in the same year.

Why concerns went unaddressed for years

Warnings about ILD care were first raised in 2019, but the Trust has since acknowledged that these concerns were not acted on, in part because of operational pressures and disruption during the COVID‑19 pandemic. It wasn’t until 2023, when further complaints and alerts were raised, that a full review began.

This delay meant that many patients continued to receive unsafe or inadequate care for years before the true scale of the issue became clear.

Why this matters now

Although the Trust’s investigation is historic, its effects continue to impact families today. Many people:

• Were never given the full information at the time
• Are only now becoming aware of how extensive the failings were
• Are seeing echoes of their own experiences in the Trust’s findings
• Lost loved ones without the clarity or accountability they deserve
• Still have no understanding of what, if anything, the GMC investigation concluded

Laura’s experience shows that these concerns have not disappeared and that there may be people who still need answers but have never been given the opportunity to seek them.

These issues deserve to be fully understood, acknowledged, and addressed. Slater and Gordon is committed to helping anyone who believes they may have been affected.