Fatal accident inquiry into death of man with severe leg ulcers
David Ainsworth, 59, died on January 22 2020 in Hairmyres Hospital, East Kilbride, after concerns were raised by a home carer.
Mr Ainsworth, of Hamilton, was taken to the hospital on January 20, where his condition deteriorated and he died.
On Thursday the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal said it has lodged a first notice to begin the court process for a discretionary fatal accident inquiry.
A preliminary hearing will be held on June 13 2025 at Hamilton Sheriff Court, South Lanarkshire.
ADVERTISEMENT
The purpose of an FAI is not to attribute blame to any person or party but to determine the cause of death, the circumstances surrounding the death, establish what precautions could have been taken, if any, and to minimise the risk of future deaths in future under similar circumstances.
It will explore the circumstances of Mr Ainsworth's death, with particular focus on the assessment, support and care he received.
Procurator fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on death investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said: 'The death of David Ainsworth occurred in circumstances giving rise to serious public concern and as such a discretionary fatal accident inquiry should be held.
'An FAI will allow a full public airing of the evidence of the procurator fiscal's wider investigations with interested parties. The evidence will be tested in a public setting and be the subject of an independent judicial determination.
'Mr Ainsworth's family will continue to be kept informed of significant developments as court proceedings progress.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mom of Teen Blames Forgetfulness on Menopause. Then She Saw the Scans: 'All I Could Think About Was Not Being There for Her'
April Tate's tumor was deep inside her brain, and growing slowly A single mom is living with a shocking diagnosis. April Tate was working in childcare in Fife, a coastal community in Scotland, in 2018 when she forgot the name of one of the children in her care. April, who was 52 at the time, chalked the lapse up to hormones; as Harvard Health explains, forgetfulness and brain fog are commonly reported symptoms of menopause. But when she mentioned the memory lapse to her doctor, he asked her to come in for an evaluation immediately, according to Daily Mail. That's when doctors scanned her brain — and April was given the devastating news: She had a brain tumor. And while it wasn't cancerous, it was so deep in her brain that it couldn't be removed. As Mount Sinai explains, the type of tumor April has, a posterior falcine meningioma, is slow-growing, but in the part of the brain that focuses on movement, coordination, and "vital body functions such as breathing.' 'When they said I had a brain tumor, my first thought was that I was going to die. It was a numbing moment. I was a single mom, and my daughter Abby was still a teenager. All I could think about was not being there for her,' she told the outlet. 'When the surgeon explained the tumor was located in a really difficult part of my brain and he'd only attempted surgery in that area once before, it was hard to accept.' April was self-employed, which 'brought financial pressure,' as she had to take time off work for treatment, losing income. It 'just added to the stress.' She was told to 'watch and wait,' she says, with regular scans monitoring the tumor's growth. 'For a while, it didn't change much,' she explains. Still, 'it was terrifying to live with the unknown of whether it would grow or not. Over time, I began to adjust.' In late 2022, April was given the bleak news that the tumor had begun to grow, qualifying her for daily radiation. While she says the treatment itself 'was fairly quick each day … it was exhausting.' She had to wear a custom mask to keep her head completely still, a process that she said felt 'claustrophobic and intense … I just closed my eyes, listened to music and tried to stay calm. The hardest part came afterwards, with having to wait to find out if it had worked.' It did, she shared — and while she still has to undergo scans, she's been able to go back to work and increase her physical activity. She ran a 5K this year, and she's taking part in a fundraising challenge via JustGiving to pay for a single day of research at a Scottish brain tumor center. As she explained, 'What shocks me most is how little funding goes into researching brain tumors. That has to change.' And while she is grateful her tumor isn't cancerous, April explains, 'There's something in my brain that shouldn't be there, and it could change at any time. I even worried about how it might affect new relationships and not wanting to burden someone else with what I was going through. But we still deserve to live fully, and to love and be loved.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
Transgender medic row could be viewed as hate crime, consultant tells tribunal
A consultant previously overheard a nurse saying she 'did not believe it was possible to change sex' and felt that a dispute with a transgender doctor 'could be considered to be a hate crime', an employment tribunal has heard. Nurse Sandie Peggie was suspended after she complained about having to share a changing-room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on Christmas Eve 2023. She was placed on special leave after Dr Upton made an allegation of bullying and harassment, and cited concerns about 'patient care'. Ms Peggie has lodged a claim against NHS Fife and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act 2010, including sexual harassment; harassment related to a protected belief; indirect discrimination; and victimisation. Dr Maggie Currer, deputy clinical lead at NHS Fife, gave evidence to the tribunal in Dundee on Friday. She said she sent a 'need-to-know' email about the incident to five members of the senior leadership team on January 5, 2024 and suggested 'HR would be the most appropriate people to contact'. She disputed an assertion put to her by Jane Russell KC, representing NHS Fife and Dr Upton, that the health board 'permits staff to use facilities which align with gender identity'. Dr Currer said: 'That hasn't been my experience, I think it is considered on a case-by-case basis.' Her email described the Christmas Eve dispute as 'similar' to an incident of a patient racially abusing a doctor, the tribunal heard. Dr Currer said: 'My understanding is incidents of aggressive or abusive behaviour directed to anyone of a protected characteristic could be considered to be a hate crime.' She told the tribunal she believed she had been informed of the dispute as she had worked at NHS Fife for 15 years. Dr Currer said she was aware of Ms Peggie's gender-critical views as she had overheard her talking about them. She said: 'I was aware. I was aware by report, from directly overhearing. I have also heard Ms Peggie directly articulate those views. 'This is from memory and some time ago, but I have certainly heard Ms Peggie articulate that it was not possible to change your sex.' She said she first met Dr Upton during a teaching session and the junior doctor had made a disclosure about her trans identity. Dr Currer said: 'Dr Upton said to me, was I aware she was trans, she said she just wanted to let me know.' The consultant also said she had contacted equality lead Isla Bumba by telephone in August 2023 about Dr Upton's right to use female changing facilities. The tribunal continues.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Phone notes made by trans doctor after nurse dispute were edited, tribunal told
Phone notes made by a transgender doctor following a dispute with a nurse had been edited, a tribunal has heard. An employment tribunal was told on Friday that NHS Fife did not commission a forensic or in-person examination of Dr Beth Upton's phone in May 2025. The health board's security analyst 'did not have a technical answer' for discrepancies on dates on Google Notes made by Dr Upton, the tribunal heard. Sandie Peggie was suspended after she complained about having to share a changing room with Dr Upton at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on Christmas Eve 2023. The nurse was placed on special leave after Dr Upton made an allegation of bullying and harassment and cited concerns about 'patient care'. Ms Peggie has lodged a claim against NHS Fife and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act 2010, including sexual harassment; harassment related to a protected belief; indirect discrimination; and victimisation. The tribunal heard entries on Google Notes had 'discrepancies' between the date of editing and date of creation. Independent IT expert Jim Borwick, director of KJB Computer Forensics Consultancy, was commissioned by Ms Peggie's representatives and agreed he was suggesting the doctor 'was trying to mislead' the tribunal. In a report, Mr Borwick wrote 'Dr Upton is silent on fact that Notes can be rearranged with relative ease', and that he was 'perplexed' and 'at a loss' as to how the discrepancies had occurred, and was told 'notes did not include patient care allegations Dr Upton made about Ms Peggie', the tribunal heard. One note from December 18, 2023 logged 'working nights, won't make eye contact, won't acknowledge my presence, haven't had direct conversation but can feel the dismissal/hostility', which was edited on December 26 at 1.21am, the tribunal heard. Mr Borwick said: 'In addition to text on that date, this had been added so it is not contemporaneous.' He confirmed he was 'suggesting that Dr Upton is trying to mislead the tribunal', when asked by Jane Russell KC, representing NHS Fife and Dr Upton. Ms Russell said: 'When you said Dr Upton is silent on fact that notes can be rearranged, you're suggesting that Dr Upton is trying to mislead the tribunal?' The IT expert said: 'I suppose that's my comment, yes.' Ms Russell asked if he had been instructed 'to come up with explanation that there were lies on the part of Dr Upton' and to 'undermine Dr Upton's account of patient care allegations'? The witness said: 'I don't think we were trying to undermine anything, it was just a case of trying to look at these notes.' He added: 'I was told to recover notes about patient care allegations; no reason was given, just to recover those notes.' He suggested a Teams meeting should have been recorded, and that screenshots could have been 'superimposed' on notes. Ms Russell said in one screenshot 'the conundrum is that the edited date predates the created date', and asked if 'the only explanation for discrepancy is that Dr Upton is lying about creation dates'. The witness said: 'I can't recreate this, Mr Donaldson [Peter Donaldson, information security manager for NHS Fife] can't; this can't happen. It just can't happen that way.' However, Ms Peggie's junior counsel, Charlotte Elves, said she was 'astonished' at a suggestion that anyone 'would have instructed an expert to lie, or that an expert would accept such instructions'. The tribunal heard a note titled 'weird incident 26.08.23' was timestamped showing it was created on October 26, 2023, according to Google. The tribunal also heard evidence that Dr Upton was remotely supervised at one point during a Teams call by Mr Donaldson. Giving evidence, Mr Donaldson said: 'I don't believe Dr Upton was trying to mislead us in any way. 'I completely agree this is how Google presents; on the face of it the October date is the earliest date. I don't dispute that. The notes supplementary to that are the same.' Ms Elves said: 'This quandary that we've got about creation on October 26, as I understand it, there's no understandable technical explanation?' Mr Donaldson said: 'Not that I'm aware of.' Ms Elves said: 'You say you don't believe Dr Upton was trying to mislead the tribunal but presumably accept that is one explanation for this inexplicable phenomenon?' The witness said: 'It is a possibility but I don't believe that's the case.' Ms Elves said: 'Going back to apparent difficulty with the screenshots, I think you told the tribunal that you can't fathom any technological explanation; do you accept that one explanation for images that purport to show the inexplicable is they have been manipulated?' Mr Donaldson said: 'I can't say it's impossible.' The tribunal continues.