Leslie Ash: I nearly lost everything after hospital superbug, defends NHS payout

Leslie Ash says she nearly lost everything after contracting a near-fatal hospital superbug and winning a £5 million payout from the National Health Service in 2008, a decision she defends amid ongoing public backlash.

The setbacks began years earlier, when the Men Behaving Badly star was admitted to hospital in 2004 after reportedly falling out of bed, suffering a punctured lung and broken ribs. While in care, she said, a hospital-acquired infection took hold, contributing to a decline that included mobility issues and a period of paralysis. Ash has described how the sequence of events left her with lasting health challenges and a souring of her once-public lifestyle, even as she moved forward with her acting career.

The disclosure comes as Ash recounts the fallout from the NHS settlement, which drew criticism at the time for the scale of the payout and for the notion of a public healthcare system paying damages to a well-known taxpayer. In recent interviews, she has pushed back against those who view the case as evidence of a misused public purse, insisting that the NHS is generally excellent but capable of mistakes, and that compensation serves as an important accountability mechanism when patients are harmed.

“I know a lot of people dislike me for suing the NHS, but while the NHS is brilliant, they do make mistakes, I’m not the only one they made a mistake on, and they pay a fortune in compensation every year,” Ash said in a retrospective discussion of her experiences. “I didn’t take any joy out of suing them, but when they make a mistake, they have to hold their hands up.” The 2008 settlement, she has argued, helped avert a far more dire financial scenario for her family, including the potential loss of their London flat and other security if the case had not been resolved.

The backlash surrounding the payout contrasted with the broader public health debate about medical errors and accountability. Ash has argued that the size of the award was not a celebration of a personal windfall but a recognition of harm and the long-term costs of care that followed her illness. She has emphasized that the money was, in her words, a necessary measure to protect her family’s stability during a period of serious health and financial vulnerability.

Beyond the hospital episode, Ash’s life has been marked by a series of high-profile public moments that shaped public perception. Earlier in her career, a botched cosmetic procedure left her with a “trout pout” that drew ridicule from peers and tabloids alike, a chapter she described as deeply painful and humiliating. She recalled waking each day to headlines and jokes that underscored the precarious nature of fame and the scrutiny that accompanies it. Yet she also noted that attitudes toward cosmetic procedures have since shifted, and that confidence in personal appearance can recover with time and resilience.

Returning to acting after years of turbulence, Ash described a difficult road back to work. She spoke about losing roles she had hoped to take, including a stint on Hotel Babylon, where a director reportedly paused the project when he saw her struggling to stand on two crutches. The experience underscored the emotional and professional hurdles she faced while trying to rebuild her career. Nevertheless, she found new opportunities through a different path when a new agent helped her land a part in a fast-paced comedy, a project that proved to be a bright spot amid challenging times.

Ash’s comeback included a stage run in a play titled Artificially Yours at the Riverside Studios, a production she said brought laughter back into her life and offered a sense of validation after a long period of professional uncertainty. The production, which featured a demanding script and rapid pacing, was described as a cathartic experience that demonstrated her ability to connect with audiences again and to perform under pressure after years away from center stage.

Her personal life has remained anchored by a long marriage and a close family. Ash and her husband of nearly four decades, former footballer Lee Chapman, have two grown sons, and she is also a grandmother. Even as she continues to navigate the public gaze, she has stressed that she does not want pity or to be seen as a victim of medical mistakes. She maintains that accountability—whether in the NHS or elsewhere—should be part of the healing process, but that one’s life can still be rebuilt with time, support, and opportunity.

Looking back, Ash has reflected on how a sequence of traumatic events altered the course of her life and career. She has acknowledged that her decision to pursue compensation was not taken lightly, but she stands by it as a means of preserving her family’s financial security and acknowledging the harm she endured. Her message to others who face medical complications remains pragmatic: mistakes happen, but accountability and access to resources are essential to recovery and resilience.

As health systems worldwide grapple with medical errors, Ash’s story adds a personal dimension to the larger discussion about patient safety, justice, and the sometimes difficult balance between public interest and private pain. While she recognizes the ongoing conversation about NHS funding and compensation, she also emphasizes the importance of recognizing patients’ lived experiences—especially when those experiences involve hospital-acquired infections that can change the trajectory of a life. And through it all, she has pursued work that makes audiences laugh and engage with her renewed vitality, a testament to a career that has endured more than a few upheavals but continues to find light in the face of adversity.