'My dad went into hospital fit and healthy - and days later he was dead'
A family was left heartbroken after a man went into hospital for surgery and died just a few days later due to "inadequate" and delayed treatment.
David Blagbrough passed away at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, part of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, following treatment described by a coroner as inadequate and negligent. The dad-of-two, a former blacksmith for Kirklees Council, died 11 days after undergoing routine surgery which followed successful treatment for rectal cancer.
He had undergone surgery to reverse an ileostomy, an operation to bring the bowel through a hole in the tummy. A tumour had been removed and he was told the cancer had not spread. Mr Blagbrough was looking forward to returning to normal life but complications arose following the ileostomy reversal.
David with his wife Margaret (YorkshireLive/MEN)His daughter Louise told a resumed inquest in Bradford how she had watched her father's condition worsen over a five-day period while she tried to raise her concerns with medics on his ward at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. She said her dad was vomiting black matter, his stomach was distended and he appeared to be very ill, reports Yorkshire Live.
Louise said she had noted that her dad was bringing up black vomit, but this was not recorded in the notes and the surgeon was not aware of this development. She said her dad was a "fit and healthy" man when he went into the hospital for the surgery but was dead five days later.
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The distraught daughter described how her dad had deteriorated over the five-day period and how she and her mum had felt anguished about his condition. "I could see my dad was at death's door; I was panicking. I was trying to ask so nicely (because) this black vomit didn't look right to me. Why were decisions not made sooner?"
Louise described how she and her mum visited Dad every day in the hospital. "Every night for five nights we were beside ourselves. We knew he wasn't getting looked after," she said. She told the inquest that doctors and nursing staff ought to properly listen to the concerns of families - and claimed that one doctor was "chewing a pen" and had his "leg against a wall" when she tried to raise her concerns shortly before he suffered a cardiac arrest.
The inquest heard there was a delay in giving Mr Blagbrough antibiotics and medics had been unable to insert a nasogastric tube. A senior doctor had been called to insert the tube but was not immediately available. On March 27, 2019, Mr Blagbrough, of Kirkburton, suffered a cardiac arrest and multiple organ failure due to aspiration pneumonia, when food or liquid is breathed into the airways. He died, aged 66, on April 1.
The family was left heartbroken (YorkshireLive/MEN)Assistant coroner Crispin Oliver said the hospital had apologised and had accepted it was negligent. He said that the delay in inserting the tube and the failure to realise the seriousness of this were errors that led to the cardiac arrest.
The coroner told the hearing that Mr Blagbrogh had died from "the avoidable consequences of notably delayed and inadequate responses to complications arising" from a medical procedure. He apologised to the family for the delay in hearing the inquest, saying that the Covid pandemic had played a part as well as the loss of a number of coroners.
David's daughter Louise said: "Nothing will ever bring my dad back but hopefully his inquest has helped call for lessons to be learnt after the trust admitted dad would still be here if it wasn’t for numerous failings and unacceptable delays in his care.
"Dad deteriorated over a period of five days and at any point they could have intervened and dad would still be here. It’s truly heartbreaking.
"I also urge other families who have loved ones in hospital, who feel they are being neglected and not being looked after, please please speak up and stop your loved one being just another hospital obituary."
The hospital apologised to the family. Following the case, Brendan Brown, Chief Executive at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, said: "My heartfelt condolences and sincerest apologies go out to Mr Blagbrough’s family at this sad time. We know that aspects of Mr Blagbrough's post-operative care fell below the standards we expect, and we have already taken steps to address the issues identified. We respect and understand the Coroner's conclusion and will ensure that lessons are learned from this."
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