Treatment of young mum who died at Bassetlaw hospital could have been done better and differently
An inquest into the death of a young mum at Bassetlaw General Hospital heard the treatment of her complex physical and mental condition could have been done better and differently.
Emily Rose Hewerdine died on May 6 last year, aged 29, after she was admitted to hospital upon suffering a relapse of Crohn's disease in March, said Dr Elizabeth Didcock, assistant coroner for Nottinghamshire.
Dr Nick Mallaband, executive medical director at Doncaster & Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Trust, who was also involved in Emily's care, genuinely expected her to improve and said: "I was shocked myself when I heard she had died."
Emily was readmitted to the hospital on April 27, amid fears she had an infection after surgery in Doncaster.
Dr Mallaband said her abdomen should have been examined earlier, but no gasteroenterologists are on call at the hospital at weekends.
Because Emily was exhibiting “bizarre behaviour,” including hearing voices, treating her was more difficult and steroid-induced psychosis was diagnosed.
"I think there are things we could have done better and differently,” Dr Mallaband said. “We could have achieved giving her more fluids with the help of family to calm her down.”
“We were too focussed on her mental health,” he said, and lost awareness of the complications brought on by her operation.
The inquest heard the record of Emily’s fluid intakes, and outputs from her body, was incomplete, and her weight had dropped to 33 kilos.
She collapsed twice on May 6, suffered cardiac arrest with acute kidney injury, and died in the intensive care unit.
The NHS Trust previously admitted that when Emily brought up green and black vomit, on May 4 and 5, a medical review and further blood tests should have been undertaken, but weren't.
A post-mortem found food particles in her lungs, which led to congestion, and the main cause of her death was aspiration pneumonitis.
Dr Gurjit Singh, a consultant physician and gastroenterologist who also treated Emily, previously said her death could have been avoided if her vomiting had been flagged up earlier.
Dr Mallaband agreed some aspects of Emily’s care could have been improved, but there were so many complex factors other treatments also contained risks and time was an issue.
The inquest is set to conclude on Friday.