Tracy Hall dies aged 38 with coroner stating a quicker diagnosis could have prevented her death
Clinical Negligence News : 13 June 2012
An inquest at Leeds Coroner’s Court has heard that a mother of two from Castleford who died due to multi-organ failure may have lived if doctors had acted quicker.
Tracy Hall died at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield on May 12th 2009 aged 38. Carol Harris, her mother, has now joined the medical law experts representing her in seeking reassurance from the hospital that the tragic series of events surrounding her daughters’ death will not occur again.
A verdict by HM Assistant Deputy Coroner for Leeds, Mary Burke, stated that Tracy had died due to multi organ failure caused by septicaemia and small bowel death.
The coroner heard that Tracy had suffered from Crohn’s disease, a condition causing the chronic inflammation of the digestive system. Tracy first underwent surgery in 2008, where it was discovered that she needed a colostomy bag to control the damage that Chrohn’s disease had caused to her large intestine. On April 28th 2009, Tracy was admitted to Pinderfields in order to allow doctors to carry out some reconstructive surgery on the scarring to her abdomen. The wound from this operation did not heal well and doctors took her back into surgery to investigate.
Doctors failed to find any evidence of septicaemia or bleeding and Tracy was admitted to the high dependency ward on 4th May as a precaution after being taken back to surgery when her abdominal wound split. A day later, Tracy was given a blood transfusion after blood tests showed some abnormalities. A scan also showed internal bleeding and she was admitted to intensive care after further investigations showed no sign of septicaemia. Tracy’s condition deteriorated very quickly over the next few days and she died on May 12th.
Independent medical expert Professor Northover gave evidence at the inquest, stating that doctors at Pinderfield’s could have acted quicker and carried out blood tests in order to assist in reaching a diagnosis for Tracy. The tests would have reinforced the results of a scan which revealed that Tracy had internal bleeding and required further surgery.
Tracy’s mother said “Tracy was a much loved daughter and a devoted mother to her two children and we all are absolutely devastated about her death. We are really grateful to the coroner for conducting such a detailed investigation into her death".
“I knew something untoward had gone wrong during Tracy’s surgery and I pleaded with surgeons to investigate her condition more thoroughly. To discover more could have been done to save her is heartbreaking and I don’t think I, or the rest of her family, will ever get over it.”
The familys’ representative stated. “Incidents such as this highlight important lessons which need to be taken on board and we hope that Pinderfields Hospital ensures that others do not suffer from similar circumstances in future. Patient safety should be the number one priority for the NHS but it appears that sadly, Tracy was let down on this occasion.”