‘Flesh-eating’ disease went unnoticed by medics before pensioner died
Opportunity missed to diagnose sepsis after 14-hour delay in scanning patient
ABIRMINGHAM father suffering from pain in his arm went to hospital but died 36 hours later – after medics failed to spot a “flesh-eating” condition.
Dennis Pearce, 73, was admitted to Birmingham’s Heartlands Hospital with an abscess in his right armpit. But plans for a CT scan to diagnose the source of the infection were not made until 5am the day after his admission.
By then the Yardley father-of-two had suffered a cardiac arrest and was deemed too unwell for surgery to remove the infected tissue.
His condition continued to deteriorate and his family, including wife Jacqueline, made the decision to withdraw life support based on the advice of doctors. They had been married for 50 years.
An internal hospital investigation report found a “lack of recognition” of sepsis by doctors meant an “opportunity was missed” to diagnose that Mr Pearce had the flesheating disease necrotising fasciitis.
“He was the bedrock of our family,” said daughter Karen. “Having to make the decision to withdraw Dad’s treatment will be the hardest decision any of us will ever have to make.
“Then
it was a complete shock – absolutely devastating – to receive the report through the post which highlighted numerous failures in Dad’s care, which could have caused his death.”
The report found sepsis was only diagnosed nearly nine hours after Mr Pearce was admitted to hospital and plans for a scan to trace the source of the infection were not made until 14 hours after admission, by which time it was too late.
His family instructed expert medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate his care under University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Heartlands Hospital.
Wife Jacqueline, a former care assistant, said she called the hospital several times throughout the day to check up on her husband, a retired production operative, and believed he was undergoing routine tests.
The report concluded that the “root cause” of Mr Pearce’s death was that he should have been reviewed by a senior member of staff earlier to determine which team needed to care for him.
Lawyer Jennifer Shipley said: “We are pleased that the Trust has made a number of recommendations following its investigation as the family now wants lessons to be learned.
“It’s vital these recommendations are implemented and upheld at all times by staff so patient care is improved.”
The report found:
There “was a need for earlier surgical removal” of the infected tissue but it was missed because of the delay in diagnosing sepsis;
Junior and middle grade doctors displayed a “lack of recognition” of sepsis or the source of the infection;
The Trust’s policy to escalate Dennis’s care to a more senior doctor was “not followed”;
There was a “lack of communication” between medical teams regarding who should care for Dennis;
There was “no good practice identified above and beyond the expectations of the Trust”.
The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said: “The Trust extends its sympathies to the family of Mr Pearce. UHB takes its responsibilities for all of its patients very seriously and is always willing to learn from events to improve the care it provides.
“In this case an investigation has been carried out and improvements in practice identified.
“Timely treatment for sepsis is a priority that is being addressed by a number of initiatives that are monitored, measured and reported on a regular basis.”