NHS ‘left suffering sister to die’ for four days

David Hardwick attacked medics and said it was “like they just left her to die” after she was left waiting four days for emergency surgery which would almost certainly have saved her life.

Margaret Hardwick, 72, who lived in Brierley, near Barnsley, was a patient in Barnsley District General Hospital in November 2009 when the potentially-fatal abscess was first discovered.

An inquest in Sheffield yesterday heard that doctors in Barnsley gave instructions for her to be transferred to Royal Hallamshire Hospital for treatment “without further delay” after the diagnosis.

But neither hospital arranged the transfer and instead left Miss Hardwick on the ward until she died four days later, an error described by family lawyers as “totally unacceptable”.

After yesterday’s hearing Mr Hardwick said: “Margaret’s death has left our whole family devastated. She was like a grandmother to my grandchildren and without her around there is a huge void in our lives.

“It is extremely distressing to hear that Margaret was left for four days without treatment which could have saved her life, all because of a basic mix-up in communication.

“It’s like they just left her to die, and we sincerely hope the NHS takes prompt action to prevent this from happening to anybody else. It just makes us angry to know that Margaret’s life could, and should, have been saved.”

The inquest was told the two hospitals involved were waiting for each other to arrange Miss Hardwick’s transfer.

Irwin Mitchell, the family’s law firm, is urging the NHS to review both its communication and transfer procedures and make sure lessons are learnt to prevent similar cases in the future.

It emerged during the hearing that Miss Hardwick stood a good chance of surviving the abscess if the pressure on her brain had been eased quickly.

Ian Murray, a specialist solicitor at Irwin Mitchell, said: “Once it was identified that Miss Hardwick needed emergency treatment, a four-day delay for moving her between two hospitals is totally unacceptable.

“This case highlights how basic errors so often have a tragic and devastating effect on the lives of patients and their families. Miss Hardwick was the victim of a serious failure in communication and it is vital that the NHS conducts a thorough review of its procedures for organising hospital transfers to ensure a suitable protocol is in place.”

The family wants to be reassured that lessons have been learned and that a similar situation could not happen again, he said.

Mr Murray said the coroner heard evidence that if the pressure was eased on Miss Hardwick’s brain earlier, she would have had a 90 per cent chance of surviving.

He added: ““When Miss Hardwick’s MRI scan was first reviewed by radiologists they were able to identify a mass on her brain. However, because general radiologists are not trained to differentiate between abscesses and tumours, they were unable to diagnose the abscess until it was reviewed by a neuroradiologist two days later.

“The key difference between an abscess and a tumour is that an abscess is an infection requiring immediate treatment, whereas a tumour takes longer to develop with more time for treatment.”

Coroner Christopher Dorries issued a narrative verdict at the end of the inquest.

He said he would now write to the Chief Medical Officer to request the NHS provides nationwide training to radiologists because he felt the outcome of the inquest into Miss Hardwick’s death was “very significant nationally”.

Irwin Mitchell said it would continue to act for the family and hoped its action would “massively improve” patient safety.