A grieving widow is suing a private healthcare firm after her husband died following a £12k gastric sleeve operation.

Lecturer and author Phillip Morris, 48, died from a lack of oxygen at St Anthony's Hospital in Surrey just days after he underwent the planned surgery in December 2021.

The dad-of-one, who had always struggled with his weight, was told the procedure would "change his life" - but instead he never left the hospital.

An inquest into Mr Morris' death last February ruled he 'likely would have survived' if a CO2 monitor at the hospital, managed by private firm Spire, had been working properly.

Spire Healthcare said at the time that it accepted the coroner's findings.

But Mr Morris' family are still yet to receive any substantial financial compensation from them, they say.

Now, wife Dana Morris, 49, alongside son Orson, 15, are suing Spire and its doctors - with a claim alleging "substandard treatment" filed at the High Court.

Mrs Morris said: "It is a year since a coroner ruled that our dear Phillip would have survived had vital steps been taken by their staff.

"Yet still, our nightmare at their hands continues, due to their inability to agree to compensate us for their failings.

"We did not want to have to take legal action, but we have now been left with no other option than to take them to the High Court to seek resolution from our claim.

"Phillip’s death has left a huge whole in the heart of the family – one that will never be filled.

"His loss has also left us with a great financial burden. Both I and his son Orson deal with the daily effects that his death has caused.

"Yet still we have been met with silence when we have asked for a resolution to our claim.

"Spire’s inability to conclude this matter is just continuing our nightmare – one we feel they contributed to and they are prolonging, deepening our grief.

"Phillip was a great father to our son Orson, a wonderful husband, and a vastly intelligent, funny, and loving man. 

"But due to a catalogue of fundamental errors by those working at Spire Healthcare, he would never leave the hospital."

Mr Morris, who was living in Worcester Park, attended St Anthony’s Hospital on December 6, 2021 for a planned gastric sleeve operation, which he chose to undergo privately due to NHS delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

He was told the surgery would "change his life" but instead he suffered a series of complications – including infection, acute kidney injury as a result of the procedure, and breathing difficulties.

Just days later he died from a lack of oxygen – which Mrs Morris blames on the "appalling" care she says he received from those at Spire.

An inquest into Mr Morris' death, held last February at Croydon Coroner's Court, revealed that blood tests were not taken when they should have been – delaying doctors from diagnosing the severity of his condition.

The hearing also heard that equipment used in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to monitor Mr Morris was not working correctly - meaning his breathing and CO2 levels were not surveilled when staff attempted an intubation.

Meanwhile, Mrs Morris said she felt that her husband's symptoms had been "dismissed".

Senior Coroner Sarah Olmond-Walshe concluded that Mr Morris "would have survived" if equipment used to monitor him during his intubation had been working properly.

She said: "On the balance of probabilities it is likely that Mr Morris would have survived the emergency intubation procedure had a correctly attached and working EtCO2 module been in use.

"The deceased died suffering complications of an emergency procedure carried out, in turn, to treat complications post bariatric surgery."

Dana said that both she and Orson have been diagnosed with PTSD following Mr Morris' death - with Orson still requiring counselling.

She added: "The evidence at the inquest has shown that there was a succession of avoidable failures by Spire and the staff at the hospital, which we have no doubt has left me without my husband and Orson without his dad. 

"It is now clear to us that if there had been a full on-call team at Spire’s St Anthony’s Hospital, Phillip would still be alive today.

"But so too if even the most basic and fundamental checks of equipment had been made before the medical staff removed his ability to breathe for himself. 

"We believe more needs to be done at Spire Hospitals, including thorough implementation of procedures to ensure that they are equipped and can adequately deal with patients post-operatively. 

"Finally, if a family does suffer the loss of their loved ones, they should be treated with more respect and compassion than we received.  

"Spire’s mistakes cost Phillip his life and we will forever suffer those consequences.  Lessons must be learned so this never happens to any other family."

Mrs Morris and Orson are being represented by Middleton Law, who filed their claim at the High Court in December.

Documents allege "substandard treatment" on the part of Spire and some of the doctors that treated Mr Morris.

The family are seeking damages.

A Spire Healthcare spokesperson said: "Due to ongoing legal proceedings, we are unable to comment on specific details.

"We apologise for the distress caused by Mr Morris’ death and can confirm that Mrs Morris’ claims are being responded to through the appropriate legal channels."