"Coroner Mary Hassell wrote in a Prevention of Future Death Report: It is well recognised that the admission of an elderly person to hospital can be risky and should only be undertaken if really necessary. These days, a long wait on a hospital trolley is predictable. Even without that, the elderly are known often to decondition quickly. The coroner added that district nurses had not dressed Mrs Fitzpatrick's wound frequently enough and sometime they had not gone to see her or change her sacral dressing."
"It remains unclear to me why that was so, the coroner wrote. The only explanation I was given was that they were probably thin on the ground'. Coroner Hassell said she was very forcibly struck by the lack of reflection undertaken since Mrs Fitzpatrick's death when she took evidence from the deputy manager of the Islington Central district nursing team. She added that an apology letter sent to Mrs Fitzpatrick's family was offered to her daughter in an"
Mary Fitzpatrick, 86, was admitted to hospital on January 23 because a lone nurse could not safely transfer her. She remained in hospital for six days and was discharged on January 29 into the care of the Islington Central district nursing team. Three days after discharge her pressure sore was assessed as category two; by February 24 it had become a gaping open wound. She returned to hospital on February 27 and died shortly afterwards. Coroner Mary Hassell found that district nurses did not dress the wound frequently enough, sometimes failed to attend, and staffing shortages were cited, with minimal reflective investigation and an apology offered to the family.
Read at www.standard.co.uk
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