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Original poster

My Dads death

22 replies

Angeliz · 29/08/2009 13:48

Hello all,
first let me apologise for only coming on when i need help but i do!
My Dad died horribly in hospital 2 months ago.
Basically he wasn't able to move his legs and said his neck hurt so they put him in a neck brace flat on his back for over seven hours in A+E resus room.
(He was 61, a drinker and smoker(but was stone cold sober at the time) and had been ill for ages but refused our pleas for him to see a Doctor)
He had x-rays taken from head to toe but they could see no fractures and refused to take the nech brace off till a registrar saw him, all they kept saying was they didn't know what ward to put him on.
We told them an hour before he died that he was tired and finding it hard to breathe and agitated. Nobody looked at him An hour later he was dead.

We have just received the post mortem results and it seems he had a very bad heart, fluid on the lungs and pneumonia....NOTHING of these were picked up.
I am going to take it further as we feel he was severely neglected.........any thoughts or advice welcome, Angie

OP posts:
Original poster
Angeliz · 29/08/2009 14:08

Anyone?

OP posts:
peanutbutterkid · 29/08/2009 19:29

Hi Angeliz, sorry to hear of your loss.
I imagine that you should think carefully about what you would like as a satisfactory outcome. An explanation? An apology? Compensation? It might be quite stressful to pursue this.
I hope that you get the answers that you seek.

Original poster
Angeliz · 29/08/2009 20:39

An apology and an admission of neglect.
I think it would be harder to live with myself if i did nothing.
He was terribly neglected and in pain all day while the Doctors sat giggling in the nurses corner

OP posts:
weegiemum · 29/08/2009 20:41

I woudl think you need to deal with this, for your own sanity and for the sake of anyone else who might be in your dad's position.

I'll run this by dh, who is a GP who also does casualty shifts. I know he will be appalled by it, this is not on!

Will get back to you!

FattipuffsandThinnifers · 29/08/2009 20:48

How awful for all of you, I am so sorry for the loss of your dad and the circumstances

I would definitely take this further, at least if nothing else to try and get to the bottom of what happened. It might be simply that he had no obvious symptoms of pneumonia or heart disease that could have been picked up so quickly (ie without further tests). But this absolutely does not mean you don't have a good reason for finding out why he was so neglected, and whether there was anything that could/should have been done.

Good luck, I hope you get some answers, and also again am so sorry for your loss.

weegiemum · 29/08/2009 20:51

Hi there again!

Just spoke to dh (who is working in A&E tonight!).

He says all the official guidelines say noone should be left in a neck brace for more than one hour before proper medical assessment. There is no excuse for what happened to your Dad. Pneumonia should be picked up in a first overall assessment - it takes 2 mins to listen to someone's chest, that's all it would have taken.

So he says you should complain - there are some staff who may well be looking at disciplinary action for this - it is negligent.

Feel free to CAT me if you want to chat about it more - dh is happy to do so.

And hope you are OK - coping etc - it must have been incredibly traumatic for you all, not to mention your poor Dad.

FluffySaysTheDailyMailsShite · 29/08/2009 20:54

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss and how your father died. I can't give you the answers you need, I do think that you need to make an official complaint to the hospital though as it is clear that your father did not recieve the care that he should have. You have a few options on how to proceed, the first is a legal route, the second is making an official complaint. The third is to contact the coroner. A coronor would have been involved with your fathers case, you are allowed to contact him or her and speak to them regarding the circumstances in which he died. They have the power to open an inquest, which is their own investigation into your dad's death, this is technically a legal court and they can make recommendations for further action against the NHS trust. I'd recommend that you contact the coroner.
A chest x-ray would have picked up his enlarged heart, fluid on his lungs and the pneumonia but if they thought that he had hurt his neck then they may not have done a chest x-ray.

Original poster
Angeliz · 29/08/2009 21:11

thankyou all so much.
They did listen to his chest and on the post mortem it says he went for a chest x-ray!!We did not get the results of that!
When i asked if he'd had pain releif i was told the Doctor was having his lunch. I told the Doctor aroun 5.30 that my Dad hadn't had a drink of water all day and the nurse said they hadn't checked his reflexes! Then half an hour later brought two PILLS! We said 'he can't take those flat on his back', she gave him a sip and he choked yet they have down on the post mortem that he took two pills with water

I am in more shock now with the results tbh. I am devastated that we stood and watched!
Keep saying to my husband, 'i don't know how i'm going to live with this'

Thanks for all your kind words, it means alot at this time.

OP posts:
Original poster
Angeliz · 29/08/2009 21:14

i have been in constant contact with the coroner and as the result has come back, cause of death 'natural causes' they are not keen that an inquiry will change THAT outcome. (infact they are pretty sure it won't) but we can have one if we feel we need to.
I am ringing a solicitor on Tusday to get advice.
OUR solicitor today appeared very worried incase her neice (a nurse) was on duty at that time as it 'may' be a conflict of interest. Solicitor agreed it was neglect

OP posts:
Original poster
Angeliz · 29/08/2009 21:15

hadn't checked his 'choking' reflexes

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fishie · 29/08/2009 21:19

angeliz how dreadful. i do hope you can resolve this.

FluffySaysTheDailyMailsShite · 29/08/2009 21:22

I would contact the coroner again and request an inquest. If it says on the post mortem that he had been given a chest x-ray when infact he had not then this is very serious for the trust and it has very serious implications. Legally, they should have been presented with all the facts, I'd be questioning what facts they were given and whether they are the same as what you witnessed. Neglect does sound likely from what you have said, whether your father would have died anyway isn't down for me to say, the coroner needs to establish whether your father would have lived longer if he had recieved the care that he was entitled to. This is their role, go back to them and request an inquest.

What a horrible time for you all. My father died last year, it would destroy me to know that he would have died this way, my heart really does go out to y

FluffySaysTheDailyMailsShite · 29/08/2009 21:22

I would contact the coroner again and request an inquest. If it says on the post mortem that he had been given a chest x-ray when infact he had not then this is very serious for the trust and it has very serious implications. Legally, they should have been presented with all the facts, I'd be questioning what facts they were given and whether they are the same as what you witnessed. Neglect does sound likely from what you have said, whether your father would have died anyway isn't down for me to say, the coroner needs to establish whether your father would have lived longer if he had recieved the care that he was entitled to. This is their role, go back to them and request an inquest.

What a horrible time for you all. My father died last year, it would destroy me to know that he would have died this way, my heart really does go out to you and your family. I hope you do find some peace.

FluffySaysTheDailyMailsShite · 29/08/2009 21:23

I would contact the coroner again and request an inquest. If it says on the post mortem that he had been given a chest x-ray when infact he had not then this is very serious for the trust and it has very serious implications. Legally, they should have been presented with all the facts, I'd be questioning what facts they were given and whether they are the same as what you witnessed. Neglect does sound likely from what you have said, whether your father would have died anyway isn't down for me to say, the coroner needs to establish whether your father would have lived longer if he had recieved the care that he was entitled to. This is their role, go back to them and request an inquest.

What a horrible time for you all. My father died last year, it would destroy me to know that he would have died this way, my heart really does go out to you and your family. I hope you do find some peace.

FluffySaysTheDailyMailsShite · 29/08/2009 21:24

Sorry, I'm not sure why there's three messages.

Original poster
Angeliz · 29/08/2009 22:34

I have read up on this and the problem for me is that we would have tp prove he would have lived having been given proper care. It is going to be long winded and horrible but we have to do it.
weegiemum, i will cat you tomorrow, thanks+

OP posts:
Original poster
Angeliz · 30/08/2009 14:56

weegiemum, message sent, please let me know if it didn't work!

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FlightHattendant · 30/08/2009 15:13

I wish you the best outcome with this. If nothing else it may prevent someone else suffering as you and your poor Dad have.

Original poster
Angeliz · 01/09/2009 13:25

Thanks+
I'm seeing a medical negligence lawyer on Thursday morning to see where to go from here.
He already thinks that with pneumonia it would be hard to prove he 'would' have lived even having different treatment but that would only affect compensation claim which we're not in it for.
It's not so much the fact that he died, it's the lack of care and the way he died

OP posts:
weegiemum · 01/09/2009 13:27

Angeliz, it did. Haven't had a chance to respond, need to speak to dh, but will later today!

Original poster
Angeliz · 01/09/2009 13:28

thanks weegiemum

OP posts:
dingdong05 · 01/09/2009 13:38

I don't have anything useful to say, I just wanted to add my condolences, and hope you get the answers you're looking for
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