David Haines acts in Inquest touching the death of woman after ‘inadequate monitoring’ at Barnet Hospital

David Haines was instructed as Counsel at the inquest into the death of Chanel Thompson who died in July 2025, after suffering an “unwitnessed” cardiac arrest in the A&E Department of Barnet Hospital seven months prior. David was instructed by Stewarts Law.

The Background

Chanel Thompson was taken to A&E at Barnet Hospital in December 2024 by an ambulance after her family found her in a serious state of confusion. She remained there overnight waiting for a mental health bed to become available with a one-to-one supervision plan in place. However, she suffered a cardiac arrest alone and, as a result, suffered a hypoxic brain injury. She remained in a semi-conscious state for 7 months until she contracted pneumonia and passed away.

The Inquest

At the Inquest, the Coroner considered the timings of the cardiac arrest and whether Chanel had been the subject of one-to-one monitoring by the mental health nursing staff as directed by the clinicians. Would it have been feasible to identify and treat her cardiac arrest sooner and, if so, could her subsequent death arising from pneumonia secondary to her brain injury have been avoided.

David, who is also a qualified doctor as well as barrister, put to the causation experts that inadequate mental health monitoring was a factor in her death. They agreed that:

• With one-to-one monitoring, Chanel’s cardiac arrest would have been identified and treated promptly.

• The earlier that resuscitation is attempted, the higher the probability that the person is resuscitated.

• Brain injury does not normally occur if resuscitation occurs within 4 mins of cardiac arrest. After this time, brain injury becomes exponentially more likely and more severe with time.

The Coroner found that there was inadequate record keeping, inadequate monitoring, as well as a severe shortage of staff. He gave a detailed narrative conclusion concluding that had the hospital enacted the one-to-one observation by a mental health nurse, it is possible that it could have a made a material difference to the outcome for Chanel.

David Haines represented the family of Chanel Thompson at the Inquest before Her Majesty’s Coroner for North London on 12^th February 2026. He was instructed by Partner Alison Goldney and associate Melissa Gilbert of Stewarts Law.

The Inquest was covered by BBC London News and ITV London News.

Find out more

David Haines qualified in medicine in 1998 and practised as a junior doctor in both medicine and surgery prior to joining the Bar in 2005. He has since built a broad ranging, complex, Clinical and Dental Negligence and Personal Injury practice. David also undertakes Inquest work. He has considerable experience in advisory work, settling pleadings including schedules of special damages and counter schedules. David has appeared throughout England and Wales undertaking complex inquests representing the families of the deceased in cases of purported and actual medical negligence, road traffic fatality cases, and custody deaths particularly those arising out of the failure to administer medical treatment.

To find out more, contact Paul Barton on +44 (0)20 7427 4907 or Ben Fitzgerald on +44 (0)20 7427 4945 for a confidential discussion.

News 5 Mar, 2026