NO NEED TO DIE
Victim’s clot should have been found before he was sent home, says wife
THE wife of a critically ill grandad who was sent home from hospital with Gaviscon said doctors should have detected the blood clot that killed him less than a day later.
Earlier this summer we told how Brian Gibb, a father of four and grandfather of nine, died in his bed in Stranraer on July 9.
The 69-year-old passed away less than 24 hours after doctors at Galloway Community Hospital in the town had sent him away with indigestion medication.
Brian, who was suffering from chest pains, arrived at the hospital to find the ward for heart attack and stroke patients closed because of staff shortages.
His family said medics gave him an electrocardiogram test but didn’t do a blood test which would have revealed a heart attack.
When the results of the post mortem were revealed, they were distraught.
Brian’s wife Margaret said: “It was a blood clot which killed him. That’s what stopped his heart.
“He should have been taken to the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank, near Glasgow. They would have been able to do something.
“It was a huge clot and I know it might not have worked but Brian was a fit man and they might have been able to save him.
“The doctors should have known there was a possibility of a clot and they should have tested for it.”
Car valeter Brian had been receiving treatment for prostate cancer, and his symptoms should have put medics on high alert.
Margaret said: “He had radiotherapy and was on drugs high in female hormones. It is known men having these treatments are susceptible to clots.
“They would have had his records on file at the hospital but they just sent him home without testing for that.
“They just sent him home because they said the heart wasn’t under pressure but it wouldn’t have been with a clot. They just didn’t give him a chance.
“I don’t want money. It is not about compensation. I just don’t want them to get away with it.
“It seems your life depends on your luck with which doctor you see and how tired they are.”
Margaret added: “All 14 of us – me, my four children and nine grandchildren – have lost the man who did everything for us.
“But I am grateful for having such a big family. If it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t be here. I would have walked into the water at high tide.”
Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar MSP said it was “another tragic case within the NHS where a family believe they were failed”.
He added: “There is a pattern of closures, downgrades and cuts across the NHS in Scotland directly related to staff shortages.
“That’s simply not good enough. This case must be urgently investigated.”
NHS Dumfries and Galloway said they could not discuss medical details of individual patients due to patient confidentiality.
A spokeswoman added: “A full review has been carried out and the findings have been shared openly with the family, who have met with NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s medical director on two occasions to discuss this case.”