‘Tragic mum was treated in dirty room at hospital’
Inquest is told blood was ‘splattered up the wall’
AMUM-OF-FOUR, who died in hospital after an infection, had been treated in a ‘dirty, bloodsplattered’ isolation room, an inquest was told.
Louise Pilling, 36, was suffering from leukaemia and had undergone chemotherapy when she was admitted to the specialist room at Royal Oldham Hospital.
But Mrs Pilling’s husband Mark, from Kirkholt, told an inquest into her death that the room, which was supposed to be kept spotlessly clean to minimise the risk of infection, was ‘covered in dust’ with blood ‘splattered up the wall’.
Assistant coroner Nick Flanagan said the state of the room as ‘wholly inappropriate’.
But he added it was not possible to prove the infection was caused by the ‘substandard’ hygiene.
When asked by Mr Flanagan, a consultant doc- tor told the hearing that it had not been possible to determine which germ had led to the infection, but added that if he had known the room was dirty, he would not have allowed Louise Pilling or ‘any patient’ to go in.
Mrs Pilling, mum to Lucy, 17, Millie, 16, Maddison, 12, and Leon, 11, was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in the summer of 2016. She underwent four rounds of chemotherapy and in October was found to be in remission. But in June last year the cancer returned and Mrs Pilling quickly became seriously ill.
She began a second, more intensive course of chemotherapy in July, which meant she ‘effectively did not have an immune system’ and was taken into a specialist haematology ward at Royal Oldham and later placed in isolation.
But Mr Pilling told the inquest he was shocked at the state of the room.
He said: “There was two inches of dust on the windowsills. There was blood splattered up the wall at the side of the bin and in the bathroom. The toilet had not been cleaned. My biggest concern is that when Louise got diagnosed with the infection, has that come from the lack of cleanliness?”
Mrs Pilling was eventually moved to intensive care, but her condition declined rapidly and she died on August 2, last year.
The cause of death was given as multiple organ failure, caused by sepsis brought on by intensive chemotherapy.
Consultant haematologist Dr Allameddine Allameddine told the inquest Mrs Pilling was undergoing daily blood tests and was diagnosed with sepsis five or six days after being put in isolation.
The coroner asked if the state of the room would have made a ‘significant difference’, to which Dr Allameddine replied it had not been possible to determine which germ had led to the infection, adding: “If I knew the room was dirty I would not have allowed Louise Pilling to go in it, or any other patient.”
The inquest also heard sickness meant the ward was short-staffed during nine shifts in July.
Julia Riley, assistant director of nursing for medicine at Pennine Acute, the trust which runs Royal Oldham, told the inquest no concerns had been raised by staff about cleanliness in the isolation room, but she added the ward’s regular cleaner was on holiday for a week in July and different staff were covering their duties.
Mr Flanagan said he could not be ‘satisfied that the hygiene in the room had any significant impact on the development on Louise’s infection’. He recorded a narrative conclusion saying Mrs Pilling died due to complications brought on by a necessary medical procedure.