Telford grandfather, 79, died after catalogue of hospital errors
A Telford grandfather died after a catalogue of errors in his hospital care a coroner has concluded.
Bowel cancer patient Clive Ernest Stanton, 79, died at his Telford home after undergoing surgery at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
The incidents surrounding his treatment have led Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust to apologise for failings in Mr Stanton's care.
Relatives of the retired electrical engineer told the inquest in Wellington they had concerns about his care at the hospital.
The inquest was told Mr Stanton suffered a perforation during a routine procedure, the wrong part of his body was X-rayed, an urgent scan took several hours to be carried out and at one stage he was given the wrong prescription.
But relatives added that hospital representatives had met his family on March 7 to discuss their concerns.
Mr Stanton's daughter Nicky Muldoon told the hearing: "There was error after error. We came out of the meeting with the fact that this was even worse than we had even anticipated. We had gone to the meeting – with very much the view that it had been a bit of a bumpy ride but we were getting there.
"We came out with the feeling that – the prescription was wrong, the X-ray was done to the wrong part of the body. There was a catalogue of things not done or not done on time and delays.
"I cannot believe that my dad is the only person that has suffered the consequences of those mistakes. I don't think the NHS is renowned for making changes overnight."
A post mortem recorded the cause of death as multi-organ failure, a perforated colon and bowel cancer.
Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin deputy coroner Heath Westerman praised the family's determination and the response of the hospital trust.
He said: "I have been encouraged by the stance of the trust, but I have also been encouraged by your courage and determination. I hope it's a satisfactory conclusion for you knowing the truth and I hope lessons acknowledged by the trust are learned and not repeated"
He recorded a conclusion that Mr Stanton, of Allscott, died due to misadventure.
Mr Mark Cheetham, medical director for scheduled care at the trust, said: "The events leading up to Mr Stanton's death have been thoroughly investigated. We have learned much from this investigation and we have made changes to the way in which we investigate people in this situation. I would like to offer my apologies to the Stanton family for the failings in care."
