Heavily pregnant mother, 32, and her baby died after trainee surgeons removed her OVARY instead of her appendix
- - Maria De Jesus was admitted for surgery at Queen’s Hospital in Romford
- - Because she was heavily pregnant, surgeons had to 'feel' for the appendix
- - Managed to remove her ovary instead, leaving infected appendix in her body
- - Died 19 days after the first botched operation from multiple organ failure
- - A lost window of opportunity could have saved her,' said coroner
- - Mrs De Jesus' family said she was 'unlawfully killed by a 'litany of errors'
|
A heavily-pregnant mother with appendicitis died after two unsupervised trainee surgeons removed one of her ovaries by mistake.
Teaching assistant Maria De Jesus, 32, was admitted for surgery at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex.
An inquest heard that because she was heavily pregnant, surgeons had to 'feel' for the organ. This led to her ovary, rather than her appendix, being removed.
Mrs De Jesus was discharged eight days after the botched operation, but re-admitted herself six days later with crippling stomach pains.
Maria De Jesus, 32, pregnant with the the baby she miscarried days before she died of multiple organ failure. She was suffering from appendicitis but unsupervised trainee surgeons removed one of her ovaries by mistake
She miscarried two days later - the same day medics finally read a report which had sat unseen for nine days confirming the trainees’ mistake.
An inquest heard that a day after the error was spotted, 100ml of septic fluid was drained from the abdomen of the mother-of-three.
Her condition failed to improve and she died on the operating table after medics finally removed her appendix - 19 days after the wrong procedure.
Mrs De Jesus had developed severe sepsis as a result of the appendicitis and died from multiple organ failure.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospital Trust has admitted liability for her death at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex and the chief executive has apologised to her family.
But her grieving husband Adelino De Jesus, 53, said he was 'revolted' by his family’s NHS experience and would be taking legal action against the hospital trust.
The General Medical Council is currently investigating eight medical staff at the hospital, including a senior surgical consultant Dr Babatunde Coker over the death.
Coroner Chinyere Inyama, sitting at Walthamstow, said ‘a lost window of opportunity’ could have saved Mrs. De Jesus, from Dagenham, Essex.
He recorded a narrative verdict.
Grieving Mr. De Jesus said his wife’s death in November 2011 was an ‘unlawful killing’ caused by a ‘litany of errors’.
He said: 'She went to hospital with stomach pains and we were told she needed to have her appendix out.
Mrs De Jesus' condition failed to improve after the mistake was noticed and she died on the operating table at Queens Hospital, Romford (pictured) after medics finally removed her appendix - 19 days after the wrong procedure. She had developed severe sepsis as a result of the appendicitis
'The procedure to remove the appendix when Maria was pregnant was not simple. We were told at the inquest that the surgeons had to "feel" for the organ.
'But they removed the wrong one [the ovary instead of the appendix]. We feel that this was negligent. My wife’s death could have been prevented, I am sure of it.
'By the time they realised how serious the situation was - and they promised us all the best consultants, it was too late
'She had the operation, and left hospital eight days later, but the pain continued.
'This is neglect, this is an unlawful killing. If my wife had been given treatment by fully qualified staff and people were informed of the mistake earlier she could still be alive.'
Mrs De Jesus would have been 34 this month and her daughter Catarina, 10, said: 'We have put the balloons up because it was mum’s birthday and it’s good to celebrate it.'
Her son Pedro, 16, said: 'It feels like such a big injustice.'
Averil Dongworth, chief executive of the Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospital Trust, admitted liability and apologised to the family in a letter they received on Saturday
She said in a statement: 'The trust fully accepts the inquest verdict. I would once again like to apologise unreservedly to Mrs De Jesus’ family for their loss.
'We have admitted liability in this case. The staff involved in Mrs De Jesus’ care have been deeply affected by her death.
'An extensive trust-wide action plan was drawn up following Mrs De Jesus’ death in 2011 to ensure that such a tragic incident will not happen again.
'We have kept Mrs De Jesus’ family fully informed about the investigation into her death and the subsequent wide-ranging work which has taken place to improve systems and patient safety.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2338947/Pregnant-mother-32-died-trainee-surgeons-removed-OVARY-appendix.html#ixzz2VpvAJ4nT
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment