AN Abergavenny man has reached an out-of-court settlement with Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust over the death of his mother four years ago from MRSA.

Gerry Walker of Rock House, Brynygwenin was pursuing a case of clinical negligence against the trust over the death of his 73 year old mother Agnes in Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny.

They have settled the claim with an undisclosed sum of money and an apology to Mr Walker over the death of his mother.

The letter from their legal team states: "The trust wishes to apologise to the family for failing to administer antibiotics to treat the MRSA infection she was suffering from earlier. "This was due to a failure in communication and the system has now been changed."

The settlement was a bitter-sweet pill for Mr Walker who said: "If they really cared they would have been happy to apologise to me in person and not through a solicitor."

He said until her admission to hospital Mrs Walker was fit enough to care for his 77-year-old father Cyril at their home in Bailey Court, Abergavenny.

Mr Walker said his mother was admitted to the hospital on August 18, 1999, with stomach problems, and after treatment she was released on August 24.

She was re-admitted three days later suffering from a high temperature, and she died on September 23.

Her son called for an independent inquiry, and asked for a meeting with Welsh health minister Jane Hutt, but instead she suggested a meeting between Mr Walker and Martin Turner, chief executive of the trust.

This took place in 2001 and in a letter following that meeting Mr Turner confirmed Mrs Walker did not receive anti-MRSA antibiotics until very late in her illness.

Unhappy with the internal inquiry at Nevill Hall Hospital, Mr Walker consulted a solicitor. " It was the only way I was going to get to the bottom of this."

He consulted microbiologist Professor David Reeves and Dr Martin Sarner who concluded that if the MRSA bug had been treated with the appropriate antibiotic Mrs Walker would probably have recovered completely. Dr Sarner said the delay to treat her amounted to negligence.

Mr Walker's solicitor Louise Hunt said: "This is a deeply tragic case and a life has been lost through the hospital's failure to adhere to their own policy."