Medics ‘failed to see aneurysm on X-ray’ of Telford pensioner
A pensioner from Telford died after a doctor missed an opportunity to diagnose him with an aortic aneurysm.
An inquest into the death of Leslie Oliver revealed that the 67-year-old would have had a 70 per cent chance of survival rate had he been operated on.
He died on April 18 last year at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Mr Oliver was admitted the previous day with acute left side pain.
Investigations were carried out and a CT scan was planned for the following morning.
Senior coroner for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, John Ellery, said Mr Oliver was prescribed antibiotics for a suspected renal stone.
Unwell
However, he began feeling unwell on April 18 and was diagnosed with a suspected aortic aneurysm.
He suffered a cardiac arrest before being transferred to theatre.
Mr Ellery was then contacted on April 24 by the hospital trust to say a serious case review had been launched which would look to see whether an opportunity was missed to diagnose Mr Oliver.
The review revealed that the aneurysm was visible on an X-ray before his death.
Mr Ellery said: “I give credit to the trust for self-reporting this and for acknowledging the issue.
“It was the opinion of the trust’s vascular surgeons that it would have been reasonable to state that the patient’s chance of survival would have been 70 per cent if it had been detected at an earlier stage.”
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said a number of lessons have been learnt from Mr Oliver’s death and staff have undergone further training sessions.
Mr Ellery recorded a narrative conclusion that Mr Oliver’s death was a preventable natural cause.
