Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has paid £150,000 compensation to the family of a man who died after staff failed to diagnose a serious heart condition.

David Whittaker, 61, died after suffering a torn artery, a condition known as aortic dissection.

However, staff at Queen’s Medical Centre failed to spot this when he went to the hospital after complaining of chest pains.

Staff carried out some tests on Mr Whittaker, but did not undertake an electrocardiogram – a scan which may have identified the condition and enabled doctors to treat it appropriately.

He was discharged from hospital, but died the following day.

Mr Whittaker’s widow pursued a medical negligence claim against the trust, which admitted there had been shortcomings in his treatment and agreed a settlement, which included the six-figure compensation payout.

"[The settlement] accepts that an inappropriate failure to diagnose and treat her late husband’s aortic dissection on July 24th 2006 and that, had appropriate treatment been provided, her late husband would probably have survived," a spokesman for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said.

News of the payout comes just weeks after the NHS Litigation Authority revealed the NHS spent £807 million to settle compensation claims in 2008-09.