HOSPITAL bosses have apologised to the family of an elderly woman who died after suffering from acid reflux, but say this was unlikely to have contributed to her death.
Margaret Lawton, 91, died two days after being admitted to Barnsley Hospital with confusion and balance problems.
Her family say they told doctors she needed antacid after eating because she suffered from acid reflux. But when they arrived at the hospital on July 23 and found Mrs Lawton in distress, they were told Gaviscon could not be administered because it was not prescribed. She was eventually given two small quantities of the medication, but her family say she was left untreated for two hours until she stopped breathing. Mrs Lawton died later that day.
Her daughter Christine, and son-in-law Terry Thornton, of Applehaigh View, Royston, pushed for a post mortem in the hope it would show fluid in Mrs Lawton’s lungs, but the cause of death was listed as possible myocardial ischaemia, which is reduced blood flow to the heart.
The couple complained to the hospital and have since received a response from Dr Richard Jenkins, the hospital’s chief executive.
He apologises for ‘omissions’ in how Mrs Lawton’s acid reflux was managed in terms of lack of documentation and because antacid was not prescribed as an ‘as needed’ medication.
But it states: “It is extremely unlikely that the breathing difficulties and subsequent respiratory arrest were directly related to unmanaged reflux in Mrs Lawton’s case.”
Christine, 63, said she was disgusted when she read the report. Her husband Terry, 66, said: “I felt sick because they are saying this acid reflux attack did not contribute to Margaret stopping breathing, but they’ve offered no alternative reason as to why she stopped breathing.
“Since we received the report, we’ve been having sleepless nights. We started mulling over what had happened. When they said they don’t think it’s contributed, you start going over it in your own mind. No matter how much you go over it, we know that was what contributed to her stopping breathing.
“I have written back to the chief executive to ask him to look at it again. I have explained in far more detail the severity of her acid reflux attack.”
Mrs Lawton had lived with Christine and Terry for several months before being admitted to hospital, and the couple had treated her acid reflux with Gaviscon, sometimes letting Margaret sip from the bottle until it subsided.
“Sometimes, the reflux came in to her chest. On at least half a dozen occasions I would say she had an attack like the one she had in hospital. We just gave her the Gaviscon and told her to keep drinking it. Sometimes she was reluctant, but she would force it down until it had gone. The report states they are going to change the rules around Gaviscon in future. The inference is that they are going to make it so it doesn’t have to be prescribed medically.”
The couple are also upset with other aspects of the report, such as a doctor not attending Mrs Lawton despite an auxiliary nurse reporting that she was struggling to breathe and inaccuracies in the records, some of which were completed retrospectively.
A spokesman for the hospital said: “We recognise that this is a very difficult and upsetting time for the family. The trust investigated their concerns and provided a full and detailed response to their complaint.
“We are aware that the family have asked some further questions following receipt of the trust’s reply and we are committed to working with them to fully address these as soon as possible.”
