Coroner blasts health board for writing nurse’s witness statement:
QUESTIONS OVER ‘INTEGRITY’ OF EVIDENCE INTO PENSIONER’S DEATH
ACORONER blasted health chiefs for writing a statement on behalf of a nurse at an inquest into a pensioner’s death.
North Wales assistant coroner Joanne Lees demanded answers from the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board after being handed statements purportedly written by nursing staff who cared for Rita Dorothy Kelly who died at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor several days after suffering a fall at her home.
Last Thursday’s inquest at Caernarfon heard Mrs Kelly, from Bangor, had fallen down stairs and hit her head on a table in January 2016.
The 70-year-old suffered swelling to the face and complained of shoulder pain and paramedics took her to hospital. Scans later revealed she had fractured the second bone down from the skull in her spine
The coroner concluded she died on February 1, 2016 from shock as a result of the fall and found failings in the care provided by the ambulance crew and later in the hospital did not cause or contribute to her death.
But senior health board officials were slammed for the way they provided evidence to the hearing.
Ms Lees said: “One statement was written on her (a nurse’s) behalf by the governance investigation team but she says she had nothing to do with it and she was not asked to agree with it.”
Another statement included in a witness bundle was unsigned and could not be admitted into evidence.
“This affects the integrity of these individuals and undermines the confidence of the family and me as a coroner and has to be addressed,” she added.
The coroner said she will be raising the matter with a senior person within the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and expects a response.
“I cannot and will not let it go unanswered,” she said
Kyah Mufti, representing Mrs Kelly’s family, said they were encouraged by the coroner’s action.
“This undermines confidence in the inquest process,” she said.
Paying tribute to Mrs Kelly, her family said: “Rita was a generous, caring, compassionate and wise lady. Her heartbreaking loss felt like the warmest light had suddenly been taken from the world, and we continue to miss her every minute of every day. Whilst the conclusion of the inquest process has provided some additional clarity, key questions will unfortunately always remain unanswered for us and we have been denied full closure as a result.
“To then have encountered issues during the inquest which bought into question the integrity of the witness statements provided to the court by BCUHB has unfortunately compounded a lack of trust in the candour demonstrated, and we are grateful that coroner
Joanne Lees highlighted these failings and intends to address this serious issue with BCUHB.”
Mrs Kelly’s family had made complaints to the Ombudsman Service of Wales about her treatment at Ysbyty Gwynedd and the care provided by the ambulance crew.
In a report the Ombudsman was unable to make a finding that her condition was kept stable during her stay in hospital due to poor records.
But he upheld a complaint the health board failed to provide adequate care while she was on a hospital ward. The Ombudsman also upheld a complaint that the ambulance crew did not attempt to establish whether there had been a medical reason why she fell and failed to adequately immobilise her.
After the inquest a Betsi
Cadwaladr Health Board spokesperson said: “We are investigating the circumstances and reviewing and changing our process to ensure this will not happen again.
“We will be responding directly to the coroner and also sharing our findings with the family.”