Dying... but turned away by 3 hospitals
Doctors said there were no beds for grandmother with brain haemorrhage
A GRANDMOTHER died from a brain haemorrhage after at least three hospitals refused to admit her because they had no beds.
Mary Muldowney, 57, was turned away for emergency surgery because there was a shortage of spaces in intensive care, an inquest heard.
A coroner has written to NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens demanding action to prevent other deaths.
It comes after nearly half of NHS trusts declared an alert because of a lack of beds in January and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt admitted last week that care in some hospitals is ‘completely unacceptable’.
Mother- of-two Mrs Muldowney, from Crawley, West Sussex, was admitted to East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, where a CT scan showed heavy bleeding on her brain. Doctors requested an urgent transfer to a specialist neurosurgical unit for an operation.
But three units – at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, South West London, the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and King’s College Hospital in London – all refused the request, saying they had no beds available.
Other hospitals approached also had no intensive care spaces free, leaving doctors facing a ‘desperate’ race to save Mrs Muldowney. She was eventually admitted for surgery at the Royal London Hospital, even though it too did not have any available beds.
By the time she was taken into the operating theatre at 4.40pm on July 20 last year, however, her pupils were fixed and dilated, and doctors were unable to save her.
In a letter to NHS England’s chief executive, reported by the Health Service Journal, Inner North London coroner Mary Hassell wrote: ‘ In the light of the gravity of Ms Muldowney’s situation, with the only definitive treatment being surgery, she required immediate transfer to a specialist neurosurgical unit, yet she was refused transfer by at least three hospitals.
‘She could have been transferred, undergone surgery, spent time in recovery, and an intensive care bed procured. If such a bed was still unavailable, she could have been transferred to a different hospital. With prompt transfer and surgery, Ms Muldowney would probably have survived.’
She told Mr Stevens: ‘In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe that you have the power to take such action.’
NHS England medical director Sir Bruce Keogh said he was ‘very sorry’ to read of the circum-
‘She would probably have survived’
stances of Mrs Muldowney’s death and that a serious patient safety issue had been raised.
Speaking from the family home, Mrs Muldowney’s son Sean, 27, said: ‘We’re still coming to terms with everything.’
St George’s Hospital said: ‘We would like to express our deepest sympathies to Ms Muldowney’s family for their loss. St George’s neurosurgical department operates a universal acceptance policy to accept patients that require emergency specialist support.
‘Unfortunately, at the time of referral, Ms Muldowney was not deemed to require life-saving surgery, which led to her transfer to Royal London Hospital.’
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘Patient transfers are only accepted when medical specialists have been consulted and it is clinically safe to do so. We appreciate how difficult this case was and extend our condolences to Mrs Muldowney’s family.’
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said: ‘We would like to express our deepest sympathies to Ms Muldowney’s family and friends.
‘At the time of referral, Ms Muldowney was not deemed to require life-saving surgery and there was no indication that emergency transfer was appropriate.’