A Bradford mum died in hospital after a series of errors following a routine operation, an inquest was told.
Azrum Begum, 54, of Allerton Road, died from complications which developed after she had undergone gall bladder surgery two days earlier at Bradford Royal Infirmary.
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Her family told the hearing that at one point, despite being in “astronomical” pain she was told “stop being a baby and grow up” by nurses.
And they claimed annoyed nurses refused to give her more medication and switched off her bedside buzzer.
Her son, Mohammed Faraz, said: “She was in astronomical pain. Because of her rheumatoid arthritis she has a high pain threshold but she was behaving like a child.”
It was not until the next morning that nurses contacted a junior doctor who alerted senior staff and she was determined to be critically ill, needing an urgent CT scan, the hearing was told.
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Assistant Bradford Coroner Dr Dominic Bell acknowledged there had been a series of deficiencies in Mrs Begum’s care.
Hospital staff also failed to tell Mrs Begum’s surgical team she was being kept in the hospital because of pain she was experiencing. The breakdown in communication meant she did not get a post-operative review in the hours after surgery.
The urgent CT scan the next day was also delayed by hours after a porter could not find her because she had been moved to another ward.
When she eventually got into theatre, surgeons found two holes in her stomach muscle which they repaired.
Dr Bell concluded the most likely cause of the holes would have been the pen-like surgical instrument which had been used.
Bradford Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s interim medical director Dr Robin Jeffrey said he believed they were unlikely to ever know the precise cause but he added: “I’d like to express our sincere regrets to the family for how this has turned out.”
Dr Jeffrey said a number of lessons had been learned by the Trust and changes made since Mrs Begum’s death on November 23, 2012, from multi-organ failure. These changes included supervision of trainees, more frequent observations and checks on post-operative patients, better tracking of all patients who were due to be discharged but kept in overnight and urgent CT scan requests keeping priority slots.
Recording a narrative verdict, Dr Bell recognised there had been a number of deficiencies in care but said he was satisfied an investigation by the Trust had been carried out in line with standards and added: “I’m also satisfied that the deficiencies in care were identified and that they have been appropriately addressed with remedial action. I see no requirement on my part to take any further action.”
After the inquest, Mr Faraz said: “We feel we have got more information about lessons learned and changes made than the Trust made us privy to before.
“We are happy about that and that the Trust has said it will meet us again.”
