Payout to family after op bungle

The family of a lawyer who died without knowing that a swab left inside his body in the 1950s was to blame for pains that plagued him for years has won £300,000 in compensation.

Leyland Birch, 56, originally from Birmingham, but living in Abbey Wood, Kent, was the chief solicitor for Bexley Council until poor health forced him to take redundancy in 1997.

Doctors later linked his problems to a hole-in-the-heart operation he had as a 13-year-old at the Birmingham Children's Hospital in 1955, and advised him to have exploratory surgery.

But following another, precautionary, operation in January 1999, the father-of-two collapsed and died of a heart attack.

It is sad that he suffered all those years and never knew what caused it

Shirley Birch

After his death, doctors found a surgical swab from the 1955 surgery in Mr Birch's left lung.

Mr Birch's wife Shirley, the couple's 17-year-old daughter Laura and their son, Stuart, accepted an apology from the Birmingham and Black Country Health Authority, which runs the Children's Hospital.

The family also agreed to a £300,000 compensation deal.

After Monday's hearing at London's High Court, which lasted less than an hour, Mrs Birch said: "I have a great sadness that Leyland never really knew what caused his problems."

She added: "it is sad that he suffered all those years and never knew what caused it."

'Great regret'

Jacqueline Beech, the family's lawyer, had earlier told Mr Justice Gray that Mr Birch was a highly successful lawyer who would probably have become chief executive of a council had it not been for his health problems.

James Moore, speaking for the Birmingham and Black Country Health Authority, admitted liability and apologised again to the family.

"The authority has expressed its great regret to Mrs Birch in the form of a letter," he said.

Mr Justice Gray praised the "fair and reasonable" settlement and said he had the deepest sympathy for Mrs Birch and her children who had lost a husband and father at a tragically early age.