Mother bled to death as doctor refused to leave bed

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 21:46

A MOTHER of two who bled to death hours after breast surgery would have had the best chance of survival if a consultant surgeon had agreed to leave his home to attend to her, a fatal accident inquiry has concluded.

Among a litany of failures detailed in the report, consultant breast specialist Glyn Neades refused to leave his bed and direct the resuscitation of Marlene Wightman, 49, in the early hours of 23 March, 2006.

Mrs Wightman died of internal bleeding after a mastectomy operation at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital.

Sheriff Isabella McColl said it should have been clear to Mr Neades that Mrs Wightman was seriously ill and it would have been "good practice" for him to attend after junior doctors called him three times.

"If he had attended he would have been best able to direct and co-ordinate the efforts of the junior medical and nursing staff to resuscitate Mrs Wightman so she would have had the best possible chance of survival," the inquiry determination said.

It went on: "It may have been the case … Mr Neades' presence would not have made any difference to Mrs Wightman's outcome, but it would have been important that a consultant did attend so that someone with a senior background and experience was present to co-ordinate and direct the resuscitation."

The failure by Mr Neades, who declined to comment yesterday, was just one of a string of mistakes in the care of Mrs Wightman the inquiry said.

Ms McColl said the patient was moved from the recovery unit too quickly and the new ward lacked "adequate practical oversight". Medical staff on site were inexperienced and Mrs Wightman, of Dalkeith, Midlothian, was given an anticoagulant drug linked to previous cases of severe post-operative bleeding.

Her medical records were found to be riddled with "inconsistencies, inaccuracies, alterations and errors". Hospital management had been aware of gaps in staff knowledge for years before the incident but had failed to address them.

Elaine Motion, the Wightman family lawyer, said the determination was "a damning criticism" of the management of medical staff in the ward.

She added: "It came out in evidence it was the blind leading the blind. That aptly describes the way the nurses and the staff dealt with the situation."

In a statement, Mrs Wightman's husband Tom, son John and daughter Lisa said the death had devastated their family.

"It pains us deeply to have heard that Marlene was suffering for hours before anyone realised she was deteriorating.

"When her deterioration was finally recognised it was too late to save her. Marlene fought for a long time to stay alive but was failed by the system."

NHS Lothian medical director Charles Swainson said the board accepted that Mrs Wightman and her family had been "severely let down".