Hospital administered three times the recommended dose of sedatives

The family of a woman who died after being given three times the recommended dose of a sedative has been awarded £65,000 in compensation.

Nicola Ames, 35, from Middle Mead, Rochford, died at Southend Hospital in December 2009.

She was admitted with acute pancreatitis and Miss Ames, who had a history of alcohol dependency and epilepsy, became agitated and was sedated.

By the following day, medical staff experienced difficulty in dealing with her agitation, confusion and lack of co-operation even though they had given her a significant dose of sedative Haloperidol.

Despite becoming hypoxic, where insufficient oxygen reaches body tissues, she was not transferred to the intensive care department where she would have been put on a ventilator to help her breath properly.

Despite the hypoxia worsening, and the absence of senior medics, staff continued to administer the sedative, eventually giving her more than three times the recommended dose. Miss Ames suffered a cardiac arrest and died shortly after midnight on December 18.

Lawyers, Attwaters Jameson Hill, acted for Miss Ames’ mother, who asked not to be named, against the hospital.

They claimed medical negligence and settled the case, securing damages for pain and suffering, funeral expenses and a dependency claim.

An investigation later established that over ten-and-a-half hours, Miss Ames was given 55mg of Haloperidol, compared to a recommended daily maximum dosage of 15mg.

Sarah Wealleans, of Attwaters Jameson Hill, said: “Hospital staff basically lost control of the situation and were unable to control Nicola’s alcohol withdrawal.

Rather than intubating her, which would have deemed the patient safe and provided the opportunity for effective treatment, they just kept administering sedatives in huge quantities.

This caused her death.”

Jacqueline Totterdell, the hospital’s chief executive said: “We once again offer our sincere condolences to Nicola’s family and recognise the circumstances leading up to and regarding her death in 2009 have made this a particularly difficult time for them.

“We recognise the standard of care we provided at that time was not of the standard we would expect and again we apologise for this.

“With regards the inquest, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage as the coroner’s findings will not be known until the case is reopened.”

This article is courtesy of the Echo.

Staffordshire hospital admits liability after woman dies of blood poisoning

Ethel Sanders from Burntwood died at Queen’s Hospital in Burton after suffering from multi organ failure, internal bleeding and blood poisoning due to a two-month delay in receiving surgery and poor care afterwards.

Now the hospital has admitted its mistakes and agreed to pay her family a five-figure sum as compensation.

Her daughters today called on Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, to improve services for the elderly after she suffered months of agony before her death.

The trust has admitted breaching its duty of care to the 85-year-old and has agreed to pay the family an undisclosed five-figure settlement.

Expert evidence commissioned by medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell found there was a two-month delay in Mrs Sanders having surgery to treat colovescial fistula - a condition which affects the colon and the bladder causing pain and infection.

It also discovered when she did have keyhole surgery to treat the problem, it was performed negligently causing a tear to the ovarian vein.

It was not until the following day that doctors diagnosed her deteriorating condition as being linked to the tear and despite further surgery, it was too late and she died a week later in March 2011.

Mrs Sanders' daughters Linda Ward and Sandra Neal say they remain 'deeply concerned' by standards within the trust and said lessons must be learned.

The trust was placed in special measures by the Care Quality Commission last year as part of a review into death rates at a number of hospitals across the country.

Mrs Ward, aged 61 and from Hednesford, said: "We remain devastated by the loss of our mum - it was extremely difficult to see her suffer like she did. She was in absolute agony for weeks but there seemed to be no hurry to try and help her and we felt completely helpless.

"From start to finish my mum did not receive an acceptable level of care and it is simply not good enough. What makes us so angry is that the trust is clearly not making good enough improvements as it is one of the few hospitals to remain in special measures.

"Mum was vulnerable and elderly and should have been treated with compassion and integrity but we saw none of that and it is heartbreaking to think of how she suffered.

"Action must be taken to improve services for both the elderly, and patients in general to prevent anyone else from going through such a horrific ordeal and to restore faith in the services it provides."

Dr Craig Stenhouse, medical director at the trust, said "This is an extremely sad case and we are truly sorry that the care and treatment given to Mrs Sanders was not of the standard that our patients deserve.

"We completely accept that the quality of care provided was inadequate and we have taken immediate action to make changes."

This article is courtesy of the Express and Star.

Facelift scarred me for life: Pensioner tells of botched operation ordeal

A pensioner has told how she was left scarred for life following a botched facelift.

Pearl Richman was awarded more than £43,000 in compensation after her life was ‘almost ruined’ by a procedure carried out in 2010.

After the operation, the 69-year-old developed necrosis – a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of skin cells – and was left with open flesh wounds.

But despite a court finding in favour of Mrs Richman and awarding compensation, she says she still hasn’t received a penny and the surgeon, from Italy, is still believed to be operating in the UK.

Mrs Richman, from Kenilworth, took her civil case to a county court hearing in April, where a judge awarded costs against the doctor for negligence.

Now Mrs Richman is calling for the government to take action over ‘seagull surgeons’ – foreign doctors who fly into the UK and undertake failed procedures before returning home.

“This might sound dramatic to people, but this has almost ruined my life,” said Mrs Richman.

“I always took pride in my appearance and over the years I went from having lots of photos of myself around the house, to having none.

“I had talked about having a facelift but they are expensive and we didn’t have the money. My kids had always talked about buying one for me and one year my daughter Jo, who has her own business, was able to do just that.”

The company which organised the £8,000 facelift has now gone into administration. The centre introduced Mrs Richman to an Italian surgeon before she underwent the procedure at a hospital in London.

She added: “He never talked about necrosis at all. It wasn’t mentioned. He talked about the normal risks but at no point at all did he mention necrosis. I just remember him saying that he would make me happy.

“When they took the drains out of my face it hurt so much, I screamed and it started to go purple. It went from a large purple bruise to a huge black scab that had the feel and look of leather.”
The company contacted the surgeon in Italy and he arranged an emergency appointment with Mrs Richman.

She said: “When he saw me he took me straight into a treatment room and said it had to be treated like first degree burns. He told me he was so sorry and that it did not happen very often.

“He offered laser treatment which I had and he said he would do everything he could to make it better and put it right. That is the last we have ever heard from him.”

Medical negligence solicitor Jeanette Whyman, of law firm Wright Hassall, is now pursuing the case.
She said: “I am aware of ‘seagull surgeons’ but have not come across the issue to such a horrific degree. He does have insurers but because he has not notified them of the incident, they will not cover him.

“His residency outside of the UK shouldn’t, in theory, make a difference. What it means is we can get a judgment here but it has to be enforced abroad which can be expensive. If there are no assets in the UK, you cannot enforce here and it has to be pursued abroad.”

Mrs Richman is now urging anyone contemplating surgery to undertake extensive checks.
She added: “Surgeons should not be limited to their country but the government should make sure there is a level of accountability through qualifications and insurances.

“Clinics should also be responsible for the actions of the surgeons they use.  would not want (this) to happen to another single person.”

This article is courtesy of Wright Hassall.

Girl, 7, dies after hospital sends her away for third time following repeated misdiagnosis

A seven year-old girl died just two hours after being sent away from hospital for the third time following repeated misdiagnosis.

Little Evelyn Smith was rushed to A&E by her parents last September after falling ill suddenly, suffering from a soaring temperature and vomiting.

The youngster was misdiagnosed and sent away from hospital and her GP's surgery.

After her terrified mum Helen took her daughter to see a doctor for the third time in three days, just two hours after being sent away, Evelyn collapsed and died at her home in Warwick.

An inquest into her death discovered she had died from a rare bacterial infection - Bacterial trachetis - as a result of croup.

Even though a doctor had diagnosed Evelyn with viral croup, they failed to recognise the deadly bacterial complications she was suffering from - and a coroner has ruled that Evelyn's death could have been prevented if she had been diagnosed and treated correctly.

Devastated Helen said: "Losing Evelyn has been totally devastating for us.

"She deteriorated so rapidly, even a year on it doesn't seem real. She was such a happy girl - a real livewire, so happy and always smiling. She's left a huge hole in our family.

"We took her to hospital three times in three days - we repeatedly returned for medical help and that should have been a red flag to doctors and nurses.

"I don't want any other parent to go through what we have been through. Trust your instincts - if you think there's something seriously wrong, insist that it is looked at."

The inquest, at Warwick Coroner's Court, head that Evelyn had woken up with a mild headache on Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - but still went to school that day and her ballet class in the evening. But at 2am the next morning, she came bursting into her parents' bedroom shouting that she couldn't breathe.

Helen rushed her to Warwick Hospital Accident and Emergency department, where her temperature had rocketed to almost 40 degrees. She was examined by a doctor, and despite vomiting, discharged a couple of hours later, with advice on how to reduce her temperature.

But when her daughter was still burning up on Friday morning, Helen took Evelyn to her GP surgery, where she was examined by a nurse, who prescribed her penicillin for her inflamed tonsils.

That afternoon her temperature had risen again and Helen took her back to the GP. Their Dr Susan Martin diagnosed her with oxygen saturations and moderate croup and made an appointment for her to come back on Monday.

Tragically, Evelyn collapsed and died at home two hours later leaving Helen to desperately give CPR while she waited for an ambulance to arrive.

At the inquest assistant coroner for Warwickshire, Dr Richard Brittain said: "Evelyn Mary Smith died from the consequences of both a viral and bacterial infection of her upper respiratory tract.

"Her family sought medical attention three times in the days leading up to her death. There were missed opportunities to diagnose and treat Evelyn appropriately on each of these occasions. However, I am satisfied that none of these consultations were neglectful.

Based on the evidence heard, it is more likely than not that her death was preventable; although it has not been possible to conclude the causative impact of each missed opportunity."

Among those giving evidence at the inquest was Warwick Hospital doctor Emma Sexton, who first examined Evelyn on the day before she died. She said the child did not appear to be displaying signs of respiratory distress and her cough sounded like a viral croup, although she had looked for symptoms of other conditions as well.

Dr Sexton added: "Bacterial trachetis is a very rare condition that arises from these symptoms. I had not come across it prior to this case."

Haidee Vedy, head of medical negligence at Alsters Kelley LLP, who represented the family at the inquest said: "Evelyn's death was an absolutely tragedy and should never have happened.

"Her family put their trust in the hands of the hospital and their local GP surgery and it would appear from the evidence presented at the inquest that they were badly let down.

"We will now be investigating further to find out what more could have been done to prevent Evelyn's death."

But at the inquest, Helen Lancaster, the director of nursing, who had commissioned an independent report which highlighted missed opportunities, did accept its findings.

Dr John Omany, medical director for NHS England (Arden, Herefordshire and Worcestershire), who oversee GPs' surgeries, accepted "opportunities were missed" to identify the seriousness of Evelyn's condition.

Mr Omany added: "We have looked into the circumstances of this tragic case and our priority now is to ensure that GPs across our area are aware of the dangers of croup.

"We have also contacted all GP surgeries and all out-of-hours providers to highlight some of the difficulties in identifying seriously ill children, and encourage them to refer children for specialist care as a precaution as soon as they have any concerns.

Evelyn's parents Helen and Trevor are now trying to raise awareness about complications of croup and encouraging parents to trust their instincts.

Helen Smith said: "When she first showed signs of being unwell, it was just a mild headache and that's something that all parents encounter.

"But when she burst into our room at 2am saying 'I can't breathe', that was when we knew it was something serious so I took her straight to A&E.

"We feel bitterly disappointed in the trust for failing to acknowledge that changes in their practice needed to be made to reduce the risk of deaths in the future.

"This has added unnecessary distress to our family. This was compounded by a total absence of any aftercare once we had left the hospital after Evelyn died."

This article is courtesy of the Mirror.

Mother in £400,000 deep vein thrombosis compensation

A mother is to be awarded £400,000 in compensation for a hospital's failures around her developing a potentially fatal blood clot after giving birth.

The 41-year-old will receive the payout to settle her medical negligence case against South Eastern Health Trust.

She developed deep vein thrombosis in her leg after her first child was born at the Ulster Hospital in June 2009.

She had claimed that as a pregnant woman over the age of 35, she was not properly assessed as being at risk.

Further alleged negligence occurred when she first went to accident and emergency following the birth with symptoms of deep vein thrombosis.

“It's affected every aspect of my life, I just feel old before my time”

With women more likely to develop blood clots of this type during pregnancy, they can be fatal if they dislodge and travel to the lungs.

The woman, who has since had two more children, said she was told it was probably just her hormones.

Liability was admitted before the level of compensation was agreed.

Speaking after the case was settled at the High Court in Belfast, the civil servant said there had been an ongoing traumatic impact.

"It's affected every aspect of my life, I just feel old before my time," she said.

"I find walking for more than 10-15 minutes very hard to endure and stairs are incredibly difficult."

She had to undergo further operations following the births of her other two children due to associated issues.

"If it had clotted again I could have lost my leg," she added.

As well as her medication, the woman says she now has to wear tight stockings "the equivalent of a wetsuit".

This article is courtesy of BBC News.

Awareness during surgery can cause long-term harm, says report

At least 150 and possible several thousand patients a year are conscious while they are undergoing surgery in the operating theatre, according to a report which warns that some people suffer long-term psychological damage as a result.

In the vast majority of cases, patients have been given muscle-relaxing drugs that temporarily paralyse them, preventing them from warning theatre staff that they are awake. It happens most often during caesarean sections under general anaesthetic and during heart surgery.

A three-year investigation carried out by the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland found that usually the experience of awareness was short-lived, at the beginning or end of the operation.

Half of those who were aware of what was happening to them were distressed by the experience, and 41% said they suffered long-term psychological harm. The sensations they experienced included tugging, stitching, pain, paralysis and choking.

Patients described feelings of dissociation, panic, extreme fear and suffocation. Some said they feared they had been entombed, buried alive or were dead.

Prof Jaideep Pandit, consultant anaesthetist at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford and one of the authors of the report, said the Royal College and Association had "recognised the problem officially for the first time".

He said: "For a long time it has been a discussion on the periphery. This is real. We need to understand it and tackle it."

Not all experiences were traumatising, he said. Some patients spoke of feeling removed from what was happening. The drugs did not cause unconsciousness but made them feel detached. Sometimes they felt this was acceptable, and Pandit said there was an unanswered question as to whether all patients would want oblivion during surgery or whether some might prefer pain-free awareness.

It was vital, however, he said, that patients are told before they have surgery that there is a possibility, however remote, of having some consciousness of what is going on.

Estimates of how often this happens vary, says the report. When patients are asked after surgery whether they had any awareness, one in 600 say yes. But only one in 19,000 will come forward to talk about it voluntarily after the surgery. That would put the numbers at between 150 and 4,500 a year.

The team looked at three million episodes where a general anaesthetic was given in a hospital and reviewed in detail 300 cases of awareness reported by patients.

In 97% of cases, patients received muscle-relaxing drugs as well as the general anaesthetic. This makes it harder for an anaesthetist to be sure the patient is unconscious.

Around 10% of cases were caused by drug errors. In some, the muscle relaxant had been given without the general anaesthetic, which meant the patient was fully conscious but paralysed throughout their operation.

Where that happened, says the report, there were organisational as well as individual errors. "These included ill-considered policies for drug management, similar-looking ampoules, poorly organised operating lists, high workload, distraction and hurriedness," says the report.

"These patients were severely distressed and severely harmed in the long term," said Pandit. The report recommends a checklist before surgery, which would require the anaesthetist to line up the drugs they intend to administer and point to each one in turn. Pandit said mistakes "seem to occur in a highly pressured environment"

This article is courtesy of The Guardian.

NHS faces huge compensation bill after dozens of patients were left with sight problems when it hired private firm to complete cataract surgery

A hospital could face a huge compensation bill after it hired a private firm to remove cataracts and half the patients treated suffered complications.

Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton hired private provider Vanguard in May to help reduce a backlog.

But the hospital terminated the contract after only four days after 31 of the 62 patients who had the operation reported complications including blurred vision, pain and swelling.

One 84-year-old man claimed he has lost his sight and his family is calling for a full independent inquiry.

Some of the patients, including the 84-year-old man, have contacted lawyers to discuss seeking compensation, which raises the prospect of an NHS hospital picking up the bill for procedures done by a private health company.

Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust refused to talk in detail or discuss pay-outs when approached by The Guardian Newspaper, but a senior member of staff told the local newspaper that the hospital would be liable for any payments.

Colin Close, Musgrove Park’s medical director, told the Somerset Country Gazette: ‘Any financial responsibility would rest with us.

‘If any patients wish to pursue compensation, we would work with them.’

He added: ‘We still don’t know exactly what the cause is – we’re trying to identify that at the moment. There could be a range of causes.’

Dr Close said he would normally expect one in 400 patients to experience these complications.

A spokesman for Musgrove Park told The Guardian: ‘Due to the ongoing nature of our investigations it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the sequence of events surrounding the unfortunate complications experienced by our patients receiving cataract surgery with Vanguard Healthcare in their mobile theatre onsite at Musgrove Park hospital.
‘Our first and foremost concern has always been our patients, and particularly those who have experienced complications.

'We have been in very close contact with them since the incident to ensure they are fully informed with our progress and receive the highest quality aftercare and treatment.

'We will want to discuss the outcomes of our investigations with them first, once they have reached conclusion.’

Ian Gillespie, chief executive of Vanguard Healthcare Solutions, said: ‘Patient care is our number one priority and we’re working closely with the trust to understand and fully investigate the root causes of any complications.

‘This investigation is still ongoing, making it inappropriate to comment on specific issues or on individual patient cases.

'Operations were carried out in Vanguard’s operating theatre by highly qualified surgeons, approved by the hospital, and with many years’ experience of working in the NHS.’ 

This article is courtesy of the Daily Mail.