Clacton: Legal support for couple after NHS trauma

From the archive, first published Thursday 26th Apr 2007.

A COUPLE who spent their life savings on private healthcare have been offered legal support.

David Schofield read in the Gazette about the plight of 83-year-old Madge Harvey, who was told she faced a lengthy wait on the NHS for an operation on her prolapsed rectum.

In increasing pain and distress, her husband Vic and six children banded together to raise the £5,500 needed to pay for private treatment, wiping out the couple's life savings.

Now, Mr Schofield, a district nurse from West Road, has offered to pay for legal advice for the Harveys.

He said: "I am sure that this poor family went private as a last resort, thinking hard beforehand about the financial consequences of spending a huge amount of money.

"She didn't have a choice and seems to have been given incorrect details from the start.

"If she was misinformed she could have a legal case - I would be happy to spend three or four hundred pounds to give them a few consultations with a solicitor."

He added: "They've been let down and I feel sorry for them.

"We need to stick up for ourselves as a community in Tendring."

Mr Schofield, who manages the Cherry Leas residential home in Third Avenue, praised the Gazette for drawing attention to such matters.

"The paper does an excellent job at protecting the individual and highlighting the small man's problems," he said.

Mr Schofield has met Mr and Mrs Harvey to discuss their options and together they will visit a solicitor this week to ascertain whether they have a case.

"We are very grateful to Mr Schofield and to the Gazette," said Mr Harvey.