THE brother of a disabled woman who died of thirst blames Leighton Hospital for her death.
Gillian Duckworth, 51, of Earls Road, Shavington, died after dehydration caused the worst case of pericarditis a pathologist had ever seen.
But coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said other factors played a part in her condition and he couldn't conclude that a lack of care contributed to her death.
Miss Duckworth, who had Down's Syndrome as well as diabetes, kidney problems and a hole in the heart, was admitted to hospital with chest pains on November 23, 2009.
After a series of tests, doctors concluded she’d had a heart attack and treated her accordingly.
But after her death on December 14, 2009, the post-mortem revealed she'd actually suffered from pericarditis, a swelling around the heart, caused by dehydration.
Her brother John Duckworth quizzed consultant cardiologist Dr Salisbury-Trelawni and demanded to know why more hadn't been done to get her drinking fluids.
Dr Joanna Salisbury-Trelawni said: “Gillian got very distressed by most non-familiar people and every time I saw her I reduced her to tears.
“It was very difficult and upsetting to try and deal with her because she found it so distressing.
“I felt I was torturing the poor lady by trying to help her.
“The problem with dehydration was that Gillian didn't like to eat or drink when unfamiliar staff were around.
“She also had a needle phobia and wouldn't let us treat her that way.
“We couldn’t sedate her because her heart condition meant it was extremely high-risk, and made the situation very difficult.”
She also said that although the treatment would have differed if they’d realise she was suffering from pericarditis, their options would've been limited due to her underlying conditions and difficult behaviour.
However, Mr Duckworth said he was also unhappy with the lack of communication from hospital staff.
“I asked to see the consultant several times”, he said. “But she was always busy. Gillian wasn’t able to communicate with doctors because of her condition so it should’ve been very important to be talking to the family.
“I thought that was a huge failure.”
Miss Duckworth spent the last nine days of her life in a Winsford nursing home but was readmitted to Leighton due to her dehydration and she died the following morning.
Mr Rheinburg said: “It's impossible to determine an exact cause of Miss Duckworth's dehydration.
“There's also the problem of how do you force someone in her condition to take on fluids.”
Recording a verdict of death by natural causes, he added: “I'm satisfied that everyone did their best in this very difficult situation.
“It's a tribute to the care of Miss Duckworth by her family that she survived as long as she did with the conditions found at post-mortem.”
Speaking after the inquest, Mr Duckworth said: “I'm a bit disappointed with the verdict but it was what I was expecting. We were very impressed by the coroner and know there are limits to what he can do.
“But to my mind Gillian would still be alive today if it wasn't for the misdiagnosis and lack of communication.
“Gillian was the heart of the family. She was full of fun and at family gatherings she'd be at the centre of it all. She was a great character.”
source: crewechronicle.co.uk
Misdiagnosis Claims
Surgical Error
