By Failures at Grimsby hospital resulted in avoidable death says new settlement
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Trust have paid an undisclosed amount to family members after admitting that substandard care was given.
David Cove paid a visit to his GP in June 2017 with complaints that he was having difficulty breathing and had even coughed up specks of blood.
After an electrocardiogram showed atrial flutter, his GP attempted to refer Mr Cove to the on-call physicians for emergency admission to Grimsby Hospital.
Despite being on hold for 30 minutes, Mr Cove’s GP was unable to get hold of the hospital.
Mr Cove was then sent to the A&E department for emergency admission with a referral letter for the medical team via ambulance.
However, when Mr Cove arrived at the hospital the medical team were not aware of the situation and moved him to A&E with low levels of observation.
Another electrocardiogram showed sinus tachycardia, along with widespread T wave inversion.
As these were abnormal results a locum doctor reviewed an incomplete history of Mr Cove’s medical records.
The investigation found there was a failure to note that Mr Cove had haemotysis, and a diagnosis of viral or infective exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease was made.
A chest X-ray and further observations continued to show abnormal findings.
Despite all the evidence that Mr Cove was suffering and needed medical care, he was discharged home with only antibiotics.
Mr Cove made further complaints about his breathing to his wife the next day.
When she returned to the room after fetching his inhaler, she saw her husband lying on the floor and called an ambulance.
Despite the emergency call, he was sadly pronounced dead at the scene by the paramedics.
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust conducted an internal investigation into this incident.
A coroner’s inquest found that Mr Cove’s death was brought on by a large bilateral pulmonary embolism and cardiomyopathy.
Mr Cove’s family contacted law firm Hodge Jones & Allen to assist them in identifying the shortcomings and failures of the trust which resulted in Mr Cove’s tragic death.
Specialist medical negligence solicitor Sonia Rani found that there was a failure to consider Mr Cove’s condition with a pulmonary embolism.
If this been recognised and treated, Mr Cove could have received treatment that would have avoided his sad and untimely death.
A settlement was agreed between the family and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust but the amount remains unknown.
