Welcome

October–December 2017Spring 2019

The Asbestos Newsletter

Madelene HoldsworthHead of Practice, Industrial Disease

Case Study: Asbestos at AnsleyManchester based industrial disease solicitor, Natasha Moyeed, has secured a settlement for the family of Mr W, a former National Coal Board worker, who sadly died from mesothelioma.

Mr W was increasingly unwell in the year leading up to his death and was diagnosed with skin cancer in early 2015. Mr W was later diagnosed with leukaemia in the summer of the same year. A few months later, he started experiencing severe shortness of breath and pains in his chest and was rushed to hospital when he stopped breathing. The doctors at George Elliot Hospital managed to stabilise Mr W but were very concerned about his breathing difficulties and decided to undertake further tests. It was then, in December 2015, that they found a mass in his lungs which they identified as mesothelioma.

The combined diagnosis of skin cancer, leukaemia and mesothelioma meant that Mr W spent the last few months of his life in and out of care homes and hospitals, unable to return home. The family only considered approaching Slater and Gordon after Mr W had passed away.

Mr W had been employed by the National Coal Board as a charge hand at their Ansley Workshop. As Mr W, had already passed away before we were instructed, Natasha was unable to get a lifetime statement from him.

Mr W had told his son some details about his asbestos exposure before he passed away. Mr W’s son also worked at the Ansley Workshops and was able to provide a detailed statement about the premises and explained that his father had described asbestos insulation in the roof of the workshop.

Having conducted some research, it was apparent that there were copious amounts of blue asbestos in the roof of the Ansley workshop which was disturbed by cranes knocking into the roof and also by birds pecking at it which caused it to fall onto the workshop floor. This, however, was not enough to bring a claim.

Natasha took to social media to see if anyone could help. From the responses, Slater and Gordon were able to obtain a statement from an old colleague of Mr W’s who had also been diagnosed with mesothelioma. The statement confirmed that during a summer shutdown, a specialist contractor was employed to remove the asbestos insulation from the roof space and when everyone returned to work, the floor, machinery and benches were covered in a layer of asbestos dust.

A claim was submitted to the National Coal Board which included the key witness evidence we had sourced and they went onto settle the claim without further delay. Mr W’s estate was awarded a five figure settlement. The family were delighted with the outcome and Mr W’s son could not thank Natasha enough for all of her hard work and determination on what he described as a “time consuming and complex” case.

Welcome to our Spring 2019 Newsletter. We have had some fantastic results nationally over the last few months and I am pleased to be able to share a few highlights with you.

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Terrifying Trolleys Whilst out walking his two West Highland White Terriers, Mr Dingley, noticed he was becoming short of breath. He visited his GP and was referred to hospital for further investigations. Mr Dingley was diagnosed with mesothelioma on 12 October 2018 and was informed that mesothelioma was caused by asbestos exposure.

Mr Dingley worked as a maintenance engineer for Grundy’s Catering Equipment, his main job was to maintain food cabinet trolleys. These cabinets were used to transport hot food around establishments such as schools, hospitals and prisons. The insides of

these cabinets were lined with insulating asbestos sheets to keep the food warm.

Mr Dingley frequently replaced the electric heating elements in the trolleys, often on several trolleys a day. To do this, he had to remove the worn asbestos sheets and replace them with new ones which he had to cut to size using a hand saw. This task created large amounts of dangerous asbestos dust which Mr Dingley had to sweep up

once completing each job.

Mr Dingley kept the old asbestos panels that he removed in his small van and disposed of them at local authority tips.

Mr Dingley instructed Jon Andrews, Principal Lawyer at Slater and Gordon’s Liverpool office, to act on his behalf. Mr Dingley is a widower and his children all live independently so it was imperative therefore that we managed to secure a settlement in his lifetime. Jon managed to settle his claim for £112,500.00 in just over four months. Mr Dingley was delighted with the outcome and service he received from Jon and the rest of the team.

Jon AndrewsPrincipal Lawyer

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Case Study

Lawyer in the Spotlight

Meet Sheila Costello Q1. What’s your role at Slater and Gordon?I’m a lawyer in the industrial disease team dealing with asbestos related disease and other dust related conditions.Q2. Why did you become a lawyer?It’s a long time since I made that decision – it was more by default back then – I didn’t want to be a doctor, an accountant or a teacher.Q3.What do you most enjoy about your work?I really enjoy meeting my clients and getting to know them and then obtaining a good result for them or their family. I often deal with people who have a life limiting illness and

it’s a real privilege to be allowed into their lives at such an important time.Q4. What advice would you give to aspiring lawyers?Being a lawyer is a very rewarding career. It’s a high pressure job and there are so many different areas to work. It’s important to find an area that you love. Q6. What path did you take with your careerI was very lucky to secure a training contract while at university and I started after finishing law school. I became a Trainee in 1995 and I qualified in the personal injury team in 1997. I had a mixed caseload. Some of it was high value and I obtained one of the last legal aid certificates in the firm for a case that ran from 1999 to 2008 when it settled for over £800k. I began

practicing industrial disease law in 2005 which was an area I had always been interested in. I started work at Slater and Gordon, specialising in industrial disease at the beginning of 2019.Q7. What do you do in your spare time?I am married with two teenage daughters. Managing their social lives and providing a reliable taxi service takes up a lot of my time. I enjoy socialising with friends and love going to the theatre and cinema. I am also Chair of Governors at my daughters’ former primary school which involves a weekly meeting with the head teacher.Should you wish to contact Sheila Costello, please feel free to email sheila.costello@slatergordon.co.uk

Specialist in the Spotlight

Maria Guerin, Mesothelioma UK Clinical Nurse Specialist

Q1. What made you become a nurse?Nursing was always in my family and I guess it was almost a natural choice for me. At 18 I certainly wasn’t one for ongoing university education, the thought of being a staff nurse with the opportunity of becoming a ward sister excited me and two days after my 18th birthday I started my RGN training at Fazakerly (now Aintree) Hospital in Liverpool.Q2. When did you first become involved with helping mesothelioma patients?My first job once qualifying was on a respiratory ward where many of the patients being cared for suffered from lung cancer and mesothelioma, I developed a specific interest in caring for this group which led onto my role in 1997 as Lung cancer nurse at Aintree Hospital. I can recall one of my first mesothelioma patients was a young lady who had been exposed to asbestos from her father’s work clothes many years

earlier. It was a devastating diagnosis with treatment focused purely on symptom management with very little else on offer.Q3. What was your driving force behind the decision to become a Mesothelioma UK nurse?Throughout my role as chair of the NLCFN there became an increased awareness around mesothelioma care including access to clinical trials and inequity of care across the country. I had also been a member of MNAT (Mesothelioma Nurse Action Team) from its inception and witnessed first-hand the difference that a specific Meso CNS could make not only to patients and carers but also to the region they represent.Q4. What are the main skills required for a Mesothelioma UK nurse?There are many skills required for this role, it is very challenging and you never know what each day will bring. When the team are together the support and camaraderie is

second to none, then when back at the office it can be isolating, surprisingly not everyone supports the role and you can be met with obstacles you would not think possible. So I would say you need to be resilient, organised and determined.Q5. What is your favourite part about your job?I relish the challenges that are presented to me on a daily basis, and the fact that each day is different along with the fabulous friends I have made with colleagues both locally and nationally. Q6. What do you find the most challenging part about your job?As anyone working in cancer care will testify there are always difficult testing days where no actions can alleviate the anguish surrounding the given situation. This challenge can be compounded when dealing with limited treatment options and inequities to service provision.Q7. What is the most rewarding part of your job?There are many rewarding parts of this role but I think the special bond that is formed with patient and carer throughout their trajectory is hard to equate, especially when a family member or patient tells you that you really did make a difference.

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Events and Fundraisers

Unite the Union – Health and Safety Conference

Jon Andrews of Slater and Gordon’s Liverpool office and John Browne of Slater and Gordon’s Cardiff office were asked to speak at the Unite the Union Health and Safety Conference in Wrexham on Tuesday, 19 February 2019. John spoke about asbestos and the devastating effects it has on individuals exposed

to it in their employment and Jon spoke on the issue of stress at work. Both talks were informative and well received by the audience.

BTOG 2019

The 17th annual BTOG conference 2019 in Dublin saw Slater and Gordon sponsor the attendance of several medical professionals to allow them to

access the latest information and developments in research so they can better help patients with thoracic malignancies.

Events and FundraisersThe Launch of CLASAG!

Slater and Gordon were invited to attend the launch of new Asbestos Support Group, the Cumbria and Lancashire Asbestos Support and Advice Group (CLASAG) on 21 January 2019.

Barrow, an area with the highest rate of mesothelioma, was formerly serviced by CARDS (Cumbria Asbestos Related Disease Support) and chaired by Bob Pointer. The new group, ran by Disability First, will hold meetings on the third Monday of every month at the Barrow & District Disability Association.

Madelene Holdsworth and Jordan Bell attended the launch on behalf of Slater and Gordon along with representatives from local hospitals, Graham Dring, chair of the Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK, Lorraine Creech, Mesothelioma UK Clinical Nurse, Disability First, and the group’s panel law firms.

CLASAG’s launch is welcome news for victims of asbestos related diseases in Cumbria and Lancashire and we are looking forward to continue our support of CLASAG for years to come.

HASAG Cheese and Wine Tasting in Wales

Slater and Gordon hosted their annual cheese and wine tasting fundraising event on Friday, 8 March 2019 in the Cardiff office, this time, raising funds for the Hampshire Asbestos Support and Awareness Group (HASAG). HASAG was founded in 2006 by Diane Salisbury and Lynne Squibb in memory of their father, Dave Salisbury, who suffered from mesothelioma.

A training session in wine tasting techniques was offered by Majestic Wines before guests were talked through a mixture of white and red wines, accompanied by a selection of Welsh cheeses.

The event was a great success and raised £800 for HASAG.

Thank you to the fantastic ladies from HASAG and all guests for joining us on the night to support this event.

Mesothelioma UK Ladies that Lunch

Slater and Gordon attended Mesothelioma UK’s Ladies Lunch event on International Women’s Day 2019 in Manchester with some current and former clients and lung cancer specialists. Following the lunch, guests listened to some inspirational speakers including Lorraine Creech, Mesothelioma UK Clinical Nurse and Mavis Nye who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma. It was an inspirational and emotional event.

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