We’re sorry over drugs delay death
TRUST APOLOGY AFTER PENSIONER’S INQUEST
THE trust that runs Royal Derby Hospital has apologised after a coroner said a Burton woman could have been saved if she had received antibiotics sooner. Kidney patient Sylvia Lyndsay, 70, died after suffering an infection following an exploratory operation.
AN elderly woman’s life may have been saved if crucial antibiotics had have been given sooner, an inquest heard.
Sylvia Lindsay had been due to celebrate her golden wedding anniversary just 10 days after she died at the Royal Derby Hospital.
Burton woman Mrs Lindsay, 70, a kidney patient, died when she suffered an infection following an exploratory operation.
A few days following the surgery Mrs Lindsay’s health deteriorated, she was “struggling to breathe” and lay in a “foetal” position, her husband said earlier during the inquest. He also claimed nursing staff did not seem to know how to properly care for her.
Assistant coroner Rachel Syed concluded that based on medical evidence, antibiotics were not given quickly enough to Mrs Lindsay, which could have saved her life.
Concluding the inquest, Ms Syed said: “The trust concedes that there was a delay in giving prompt treatment. It then seems largely accepted by all that her condition continues to deteriorate and she is sadly pronounced dead in the early hours of September 16, 2014.”
An official medical cause of death was given as pulmonary embolism, a blockage of an artery in the lungs, which was caused by a number of medical issues including sepsis and peritonitis, a serious stomach infection.
Ms Syed continued: “There was a missed opportunity to provide antibiotics on September 15, from around 7.30am.
“If Sylvia had received these drugs by 8.30am on this morning she would have survived. Severe sepsis had predisposed and caused the pulmonary embolism. The pulmonary embolism, on balance, was not present at 7.30am to 8.30am on the morning.”
Mrs Lindsay was a long-term renovascular patient and received daily dialysis treatment. Her widower Roy said that after surgery, he noticed that nursing staff did not seem to know how to properly check her dialysis bag.
He said this was important because the colour of the liquid could be a clue to any infection, including peritonitis.
Officials from the Royal Derby Hospital have been given 21 days to tell the coroner what steps have been taken to prevent similar issues in the future.
Simon Tate, representing the trust, said it was making sure nurses knew how and why they needed to check dialysis bags.
Ms Syed continued: “I am deeply concerned by the nurses’ comment regarding recordkeeping and generally the standard of clinical record keeping in this case. I’m also concerned about the best practices in regards to inspecting dialysis bags.
“I was reassured very helpfully by Mr Tate that these matters were being looked at. This is not sufficient or satisfactory.”
Magnus Harrison, executive medical director at the University Hospitals of
Derby and
Burton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The standard of care provided to
Mrs Lindsay fell well below that which our patients and their families should expect and I would like to say to her family how extremely sorry I am that she did not receive the antibiotics she needed quickly enough. “Early recognition and treatment of sepsis is a clear trust priority and we have made a number of key improvements since 2014 to ensure cases of sepsis are identified as quickly as possible. “Staff training has played a key part in this and we have introduced a sepsis screening tool and care bundle to help our staff quickly spot for signs of the condition and identify treatment options. We have also introduced sepsis trolleys into our accident and emergency departments, which contain all of the equipment needed to quickly and effectively treat sepsis.”
Mrs Lindsay’s husband paid tribute to his wife following the conclusion of the four-day inquest. She died 10 days before they would have celebrated 50 years of marriage on September 26, 2014.
The couple met through a friend in 1962 and wed two years later and had two sons, Jason and Julian, who gave them three grandchildren, Gabriel, Harriet and Jasmine. “She was very proud of her boys, she loved her boys,” said Mr Lindsay. “She was very strong, a very tough woman. She was never one to complain, very strongwilled and strong-minded.”
She was very strong, a very tough woman. She was never one to complain. Mrs Lindsay’s widower Roy