Killed by sepsis as weekend doctors miss signs
AN interior designer was killed by sepsis after weekend doctors in an understaffed hospital missed her symptoms, an inquest heard yesterday.
Cheryl Cope, 51, died less than 24 hours after arriving at the overcrowded hospital on a Saturday morning.
It took more than four hours to diagnose her properly in an A&E department staff said they had never seen so busy.
A consultant at the hospital last night apologised to Mrs Cope’s husband after a senior doctor admitted delays may have contributed to her death.
Jonathan Cope, 45, said his wife thought she had been suffering flu in the two weeks before she went to the Whittington Hospital in north London.
But her condition deteriorated on the morning of February 27.
He said: ‘Cheryl got up and was coughing badly. I saw her going downstairs but I could see she was using the wall for support. I said I’d call an ambulance but she specifically wanted to go to the Whittington so I took her there.’
A nurse assessing Mrs Cope at 7.40am – an hour after she arrived – found her heart and respiratory rates were such that she could be put on the ‘sepsis pathway’.
But Dr Jennifer Duschl, who came on shift at 8.30am, thought Mrs Cope, of Haringey, north London, may have had a chest infection. She told Poplar coroner’s court she was ‘sidetracked’ trying to free up beds.
As Mrs Cope’s condition dete- riorated, it was thought she could have a blood clot on her lungs or bowels so fluids and antibiotics were administered. Sepsis was not correctly diagnosed until 11.30am.
Dr Julie Andrews, the hospital’s director of infection prevention and control, said six aspects of treatment for sepsis should have been given within an hour of Mrs Cope being seen at 7.40am.
But she had only one – fluids – at 10.45am. She died in the early hours the next day.
Dr Andrews said: ‘ From the moment sepsis is diagnosed antibiotics need to be given as soon as possible. She didn’t receive perfect care according to the sep- sis pathway. The delays may have contributed to her death but the cause of death was septic shock.’
Coroner Jackie Devonshire told Mr Cope: ‘Could Cheryl have survived if earlier treatment had been given? Your wife presented with clear symptoms of sepsis. The hospital acknowledges this was not recognised.’
Dr Duschl admitted she should have called the intensive care unit once Mrs Cope was found to have symptoms of sepsis, but she said: ‘I believed I was doing the right thing. In hindsight, I should have called for help rather than getting sidetracked.
‘I’ve never seen a busier department than that day. I’ve never experienced it before.’
Night nurse Rodolfo Catacutan, who took Mrs Cope’s observations at 7.40am, said it was the busiest night in his 16-year career.
Dr Heidi Edmundson, who was in charge that weekend, said: ‘It was exacerbated by a shortage of doctors – two had called in sick. Then there was the amount of people in the majors area who, under normal circumstances, should have been in the hospital but there was no room to move them there.’ The court heard that there were 32 patients that day, while the resuscitation and major areas of A&E have space for only 19.
Mr Cope asked Dr Duncan Carmichael, the hospital’s emergency-medicine consultant, if his wife was given the best chance of survival. He replied: ‘I think the answer is we did not give her the best chance and for that we are very sorry.’
Mr Cope later said: ‘She was my soulmate, my best friend, my everything. I am still struggling to come to terms with Cheryl’s sudden and unexpected death and have many unanswered questions about her care.’
The inquest concludes today.