'Tragic' Widow in fight to return to UK sues NHS over husband's death

A WOMAN whose life in Bristol came to an abrupt end when her husband died suddenly is taking legal action against Southmead Hospital over allegations of serious failings in the care staff provided to him.

- Tristan CORK

In what her lawyers described as a “doubly tragic case’, Priya Rastogi is taking on North Bristol NHS Trust over the circumstances around the death of her husband Sunil in February this year.

Mrs Rastogi is now embroiled in two legal battles: one against the hospital trust where her husband died, and a second against the UK Government, after she was told she and their children could no longer live in Bristol, because her status was tied to her husband’s work visa.

The Post first revealed the shocking story of what happened to the Rastogi family back in March, just weeks after Sunil’s sudden death.

Sunil had a job as a high-level IT worker, and a work visa that enabled his wife Priya and their daughter to join him. The family settled down in Charlton Hayes, and their daughter, who is now seven, was at Almondsbury Primary School, and they had been living in the city for almost four years.

The couple had a second child, a boy, but just weeks later, their life in Bristol came to a sudden halt when Sunil had stomach pains and was so ill that the NHS 111 service recommended he call 999, early on the morning of February 17 this year. Paramedics took Sunil to hospital, but within hours he died.

After the funeral in India, the devastated family were then told they couldn't return to the UK.

“Our lives are there. My daughter is in school, all our belongings, everything we own was in our home,’ said Priya.

With the Home Office refusing to budge, Priya had to take the heartbreaking decision to give up the tenancy on their rented home, and arrange for all their belongings to be stored at a friend’s home instead.