On 24 November last year, Lady Joan Branson, 80, died after a cardiac arrest at the private Lister Hospital in Chelsea, west London. An inquest concluded that the hospital’s failure to administer preventive anticoagulants contributed to her death.
Senior coroner Professor Fiona Wilcox told Westminster Coroner’s Court that Lady Joan did not receive prophylactic anticoagulants despite a “very high risk of developing deep vein thrombosis.” She added that the lack of anticoagulation “did cause or contribute to her death probably.”
Lady Joan was admitted on 17 November following a fall weeks earlier on Necker Island, a British Virgin Islands property owned by her husband, Sir Richard Branson. She died from a pulmonary embolism, a sudden blockage in a lung artery that stemmed from deep vein thrombosis.
Haematologist Dr George Adams stated that her immobility and fracture were the biggest risk factors for blood clots. From admission to death, she received no prophylactic anticoagulation, which is used to prevent clots.
The admitting doctor, Dr Basir Kunduzi, did not complete a bleeding risk assessment on the day of her admission. He reflected on his role as a doctor and the importance of good communication between team members after her death.
Professor Wilcox emphasized that the case was “not a case of neglect” and there was “not an absence of treatment.” Sir Richard Branson described his wife as the “shining star around which our family’s universe has always orbited.”
The inquest’s findings highlight the critical need for rigorous risk assessment and preventive care in private hospitals, especially for elderly patients with high clotting risks.
