Pensioner's death at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital ‘was preventable’ - inquest

Danielle Antoinette Woolley, 70, of Kempton, Lydbury North, died at the hospital on April 24 last year having been admitted as an emergency on April 21.

The hospital trust has admitted that it is likely she would not have died if she had been given all the doses of the medication.

"There were three missed doses between 21-24 April," the trust said.

Coroner for Shropshire Mr John Ellery, said that at first it appeared that Mrs Woolly had died from national causes.

"Subsequently I became aware of concerns about her treatment. I opened an inquest after the hospital trust carried out a serious case review," he said.

A statement to the inquest from the trust said: "It is likely that she would not have have died if she had been given all the doses."

The coroner heard that Mrs Woolley had seen her doctor on the Friday and was told she had a suspected deep vein thrombosis. She was given medication and referred to the hospital for an ultra sound on the Monday.

Emergency

But her condition deteriorated and she was admitted to hospital as an emergency case on the Saturday, Mr Ellery said, with ambulance and triage assessment notes.

The inquest heard conflicting evidence from staff nurse Louise Rigby and Dr Ekaterina Rodrigues as to when later case notes for Mrs Woolley had been written up.

Those notes - which included the fact that she was on medication - were not acted upon and neither was she seen by a doctor on the Sunday, the coroner was told.

Mr Ellery said: "There is a gap of significant information as a result of which the medication was not prescribed. My job is not to apportion blame but to ask was Mrs Woolley's death reasonably preventable and I believe that it was."

He recorded a narrative verdict that Mrs Woolley died from a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot, and had died from a preventable natural cause.

"I must give credit to the hospital trust for its candour in bringing the matter forward," he added.