Mother accuses hospital over her son’s death

Mother accuses hospital over her son’s death

11 November 2015

THE mother of a Strangford man who died after being rushed to the Ulster Hospital has accused the South Eastern Trust of neglecting her son.

Terence Fitzsimons was 32 years-old when he suffered multiple organ failure at the hospital after complaining of severe bowel pain and being taken by ambulance to A&E in the early hours of February 27, 2013. Complications had arisen from a type of diverticulosis that Mr Fitzsimons was suffering from.

Mrs Madeleine Fitzsimons told the opening of a three-day inquest at Belfast Coroner’s Court yesterday that her son had lain in A&E for five hours and the Trust had “failed to do its job”.

She said one of her other sons was “extremely lucky to be alive” after being treated for similar bowel problems and she had been concerned Terence had the same condition.

She said she asked him several times to highlight this to his GP in Downpatrick.

Mrs Fitzsimons said her son, an agricultural contractor, had become a “social recluse” and was embarrassed to go out with his condition, which she said left him in pain and with constipation or diarrhoea. She said that his stomach also appeared distended, while at the same time he was losing weight in the run-up to his death.

“His stomach was getting bigger,” she said. “His face was getting greyer.”

Mrs Fitzsimons said she hadn’t been satisfied her son’s condition was being treated seriously enough and called his GP, Dr Una Small. After another family member had also raised concerns. She said they had also asked a contact at the Downe Hospital for help.

“We knew Terence needed to be seen quickly and no-one else would listen,” she said.

On the night an ambulance was called for her son, she said: “He was moaning in the most excruciating pain imaginable.”

She told the inquest she believed her son would be going straight into surgery but instead was initially seen by a junior doctor. 

“He lay for five hours in A&E before the surgeon even knew he was in it,” she claimed.

Mr Fitzsimons died after his life-support machine was turned off on March 1.

Mrs Fitzsimons said staff in intensive care were “very good” but described his overall treatment from the Trust as “totally unacceptable”.

“I am disgusted with the Trust,” she said.

Giving her evidence to the inquest, GP Dr Una Small gave a detailed account of her consultations with Mr Fitzsimons.

She said he first saw a locum about his condition in July 2012 before seeing her in August 2012 for the first time.

Dr Small outlined the details of various examinations, blood tests and preions issued. She noted there were no abnormal signs such as bleeding and nothing abnormal on examination.

In November, noticing symptoms such as weight loss, she said she referred him to a gastroenterologist.

She said that when contacted by Mr Fitzsimons’s brother and mother expressing concern about his condition, she told them she couldn’t discuss his case but would take their concerns on board and asked Mr Fitzsimons to contact her.

Shortly afterwards she said she made contact with the hospital. She said her original referral letter appeared not to have been received and she faxed her request.

“I explained he had lost significant weight would be grateful if he could be seen as soon as possible,” she said.

She told the court that initial examinations with the consultant noted a diverticular stricture on the lower part of colon and that surgery was planned.

A lawyer for the family, Michael Boyd, said the family disagreed with the doctor over details of the referral.

Discussing Mr Fitzsimons’s symptoms, he asked: “Don’t they very obviously suggest an obstruction?”

Dr Small said was thinking along the lines of inflammatory bowel disease or coeliac disease.

Referring to the night Mr Fitzsimons was rushed to hospital, paramedic Derek Trimble told the inquest he had made a ‘pre-alert’ call to the hospital from the ambulance to warn them it was an urgent case.

He also noted his patient lived “a considerable distance” from the hospital. 

“The roads were uneven making the journey quite uncomfortable for him,” he said.

Nurse Lisa Amos, shift manager at the Ulster Hospital A&E, told the inquest the pre-alert had not been received by her and new systems had been put in place as a result.

She said she did not think, however, that this would have changed her actions on the evening.

She said Mr Fitzsimons was code marked ‘orange’ which meant the aim was for him to see a senior doctor within 10 minutes.

“It is a guidance, they won’t all be seen within 10 minutes,” she said.

She said she didn’t have concerns that a junior doctor had initially seen Mr Fitzsimons and said none of the staff had raised further concerns.

“In hindsight I wish I had gone to speak to one of the senior doctors,” she said.

In his report, pathologist Dr Brian Herron noted that Mr Fitzsimons died from multiple organ failure, peritonitis and perforated rectosigmoid diverticulosis.

Lawyer for the Trust, Michael Lavery, expressed his condolences to the family. He pointed out that no cancers had been detected by his doctor and that he had been fast tracked to see a specialist.

He said the chief executive of the Trust met with the family and apologised for any failings.

At hearing.