Basildon Hospital's Care Standards Slammed After Woman's Death
22nd January 2014
A patient who died after a bowl surgery operation in Basildon Hospital experienced “very serious failings” in her post-operative care, Essex’s senior coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray said.
Lyn O’Reilly, 57, suffered diverticulitis and had part of her bowel removed on August 22nd 2012. She seemed to recover after the operation but then suffered from abdominal pain and vomiting. An abscess she developed burst and she developed peritonitis.
On August 31st, she was found collapsed in a toilet, and died after a 25-minute battle to save her life.
Mrs Beasley-Murray criticised the standard of documentation, that senior staff had not conducted an adequate review after Mrs O’Reilly’s condition worsened, that junior doctors had received inadequate support and that communication between healthcare workers was poor. She said that the use of unsupervised junior doctors overnight should be banned.
Basildon Hospital explained it had made a series of changes following the death of Mrs O’Reilly, including introducing new systems to manage patients who are deteriorating, bringing about a culture change that will ensure patients and staff can raise concerns, employing more consultants and recruiting more than 200 additional nurses.
The coroner recorded a narrative verdict.
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