Coroner says woman was inappropriately discharged from Telford hospital before she suffered cardiac arrest
A woman was inappropriately discharged from hospital to home where she had a cardiac arrest days before she died, a coroner has concluded.
Palliative care nurse Genette Terresa Leach, 46, of Telford, was declared dead at Royal Stoke University Hospital on March 3, 2022 after being flown there by air ambulance.
But on the morning of February 18 Ms Leach had been taken by ambulance to the emergency department at the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, with a complaint of possibly a bleed on the brain.
Following examination and assessment she was discharged home at about 1.30pm.
The next day she suffered a cardiac arrest and was airlifted to the Royal Stoke University Hospital. Sadly she had suffered a brain injury and died on March 3.
Members of the family met with senior representatives of the Shrewsbury & Telford Hospitals Trust at Thursday's inquest at Shirehall, in Shrewsbury. The inquest was told that the trust accepted that that discharge was inappropriate, but family concerns remained about how the discharge had been processed.
Ms Leach's father, Terry Leach, said his daughter was "strong and wanted to live". He had administered her CPR but she had spent time in cardiac arrest and suffered a lack of oxygen to her brain, the inquest was told.
Miss Rebecca Race, the clinical director of the PRH emergency department, said she would have put the cause of Ms Leach's death down to cardiac arrest and cardiac dysrhythmia (an abnormal or irregular heartbeat).
Shropshire senior coroner John Ellery recorded a narrative conclusion.
He said: "The deceased was inappropriately discharged home from hospital where she subsequently suffered a cardiac arrest.
"Had the cardiac arrest occurred in hospital, more likely than not, she would have survived."
