A man from the north east of
The gentleman in question had regularly worked twelve hour days and most of the weekend. Unable to cope with the workload, he suffered stress and anxiety and eventually had a heart attack in November 2004. He survived, but remained "seriously depressed" and was unable to return to work, taking early retirement at the age of 60.
Court proceedings began in 2006 and Northumberland NHS Care Trust admitted they had been negligent in exposing the man to working conditions that put him under stress. However, at the time they did not accept that the heart attack and depression suffered had been caused by their negligence.
As a result, the case was listed to be heard by a judge at Newcastle County Court in September of this year, but shortly before the trial the NHS Trust offered compensation of £175,000, which was accepted.