Woman died of sepsis after routine operation

A WOMAN who died from sepsis after developing an “extremely rare” infection “had everything to live for” after losing eight stone for an operation, her daughter has said.

Melissa Barry was speaking after the Dublin coroner returned a verdict of medical misadventure at the inquest into the death of her mother, Susan McGee (52), from Skerries Road in Rush, Co Dublin.

The mother-of-two died at Beaumont Hospital on July 24, 2013, having developed a rare Clostridium Difficile infection affecting almost her entire bowel following a hernia operation at The Hermitage Medical Clinic 11 days earlier.

Consultant surgeon Professor Arnold Hill told the hearing that during the hernia operation a superficial outer colon tear was repaired and, as a result, Mrs McGee was placed on a longer course of antibiotics – one of the risk factors for developing C. Diff infection.

Returning the verdict, coroner Dr Brian Farrell said C. Diff normally causes diarrhoea but in this case it resulted in an “extremely rare” severe enterocolitis. She went into multi-organ failure after developing sepsis, secondary to the enterocolitis caused by the C. Diff infection.

The family’s solicitor raised concerns over the handover of Mrs McGee’s care when Prof Hill went on leave three days after her readmission to The Hermitage with a small bowel obstruction. Summing up, Dr Farrell said the reporting structures following handover were not clear to some of the nurses “and even the consultants”.

After, Mrs Barry said her mother was a “bubbly, outgoing person” who “idolised” her family and “lived for her grandkids”, “After losing the eight stone, she had everything to live for.”