Grandmother, 67, dies after 140 blunders by Leeds hospital

Christine Lofthouse died three days after she was admitted to St James’s Hospital with a urinary tract infection on New Year’s Eve 2010.

Her son Tim Lofthouse, 45, has identified 140 different mistakes made by hospital staff - many related to bank holiday staff shortages.

Mr Lofthouse said failures in his mother’s care included failing to administer antibiotics, recording that drugs had been given to her when they had not and leaving her on a trolley for hours.

She was also missed by a consultant.

Mr Lofthouse said an internal report released to him admitted there were significant work pressures over New Year and there were insufficient resources to cope.

He said: “To realise that in a short period of time, less than three days, medical professional people who have a duty of care failed at every stage - I don’t know how I feel now.

“I don’t want revenge. I want to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”

He said his mother, who left two children and four grandchildren, had been bed bound following a stroke a year before her death.

A spokesman for Leeds Teaching Hospitals said: “A full investigation has taken place into the care that Mrs Lofthouse received following her admission to St James’s at the end of December 2010 and the findings have been shared with her family.

“The internal investigation acknowledged that when Mrs Lofthouse was transferred to a ward there were a number of shortcomings relating to record-keeping, medication and observation.

“As a result, the care given to Mrs Lofthouse fell short of the standard expected and we once again apologise to her family for this.

“An action plan was developed to ensure lessons have been learned, and we have kept the family updated on the changes we have made.

“We can confirm that a financial settlement has been mutually agreed and would also repeat our sincere condolences to the family of Mrs Lofthouse.”