Kevin Campbell’s family have appointed a team of lawyers specialising in cases of clinical negligence to examine the alleged hospital failings before the death of the former Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Everton striker.
A hearing at Manchester coroners’ court was told on Wednesday that an investigation into Campbell’s death, aged 54, on June 15 last year had “identified shortcomings in treatment” during his stay at the Manchester Royal Infirmary.
That investigation was carried out by the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the hospital and had previously declared a Level 5 patient-safety incident – the most serious category – about aspects of his care.
Campbell, whose career also included spells at West Bromwich Albion, Leicester City and Turkish club Trabzonspor, was admitted to the hospital on May 15 after previous admissions earlier in the year.
His provisional cause of death was given as multi-organ failure due to infective endocarditis, a rare infection of the inner lining or valves of the heart.
Campbell’s family were represented in a pre-trial review — the full inquest will take place later this year — by Sebastian Naughton, a barrister who specialises in cases of clinical negligence. Josh Beszant, a solicitor from Irwin Mitchell’s medical negligence team, also appeared via video-link on behalf of the family.
Naughton told the hearing that a “medically complicated” and “very complex” inquest would be required to examine the circumstances leading to Campbell’s death and “delayed diagnosis.”
Campbell’s family, he added, had questions about why he was not given an echocardiogram – an ultrasound heart scan – during a previous six-and-a-half week hospital admission.
It also emerged that the family had requested the coroner, Zak Golombek, should obtain independent reports from other medical experts, as well as widening the scope of the inquest to take in Campbell’s care at Salford Royal Hospital. The alternative, Naughton argued, might be seen as the trust “effectively marking its own homework.”
That request was turned down by the coroner and Naughton said the family would have to consider obtaining independent advice of their own.
Campbell, originally from London, scored 148 goals in 542 appearances during his career and won a league championship, the FA Cup, a League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup with Arsenal, his first club.
His 25-year-old son, Tyrese, who plays for Stoke City, wrote on X at the time of his father’s death that “the pain of this is indescribable and, as a son, you look at your dad as invincible. He was the life and soul of every party and room he blessed, a one-in-a-million person loved by everyone.”
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(Allsport UK /Allsport)
