Elderly hospital patient 'called malingerer' by nurse before being sent home to die

[dutchman]

The son of a woman who died days after being sent home from hospital says a nurse called her a "malingerer".



June Foxwell, 76, visited University Hospital Coventry complaining of abdominal pain.

There, son Mark Foxwell says, she was accused of time-wasting and sent home.

Within days, "upset", he said, "about how she had been treated", she was dead - a case now referred to the coroner by the trust running the hospital, which has not commented on the alleged slurs.

Mrs Foxwell, from Coventry, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease and hypertension, had suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm prior to attending hospital on 27 August 2016.

She underwent a scan which was reported as showing no evidence of a leak from the aneurysm. After 48 hours' observation, she was discharged.

Between 30 and 31 August she returned in pain, stayed overnight, was again discharged, then visited once more - and it was during this period, her family says, that she was "verbally abused" by a male nurse.

The family also says Mrs Foxwell complained she was "put into a broom cupboard".

Mr Foxwell said: "She told me they told her she was a timewaster and a malingerer."

On 31 August's visit, a further scan this time revealed a rupture of the aneurysm "not present on the CT scan performed four days previously", according to post-mortem results.

She was taken to theatre for an emergency procedure then transferred to intensive care. She died on 2 September.

It came within weeks of the death of an MP's father who was discharged from the same hospital with an aneurysm.

A spokesperson for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust said: "We have referred the care of this patient to the coroner and will be working with him to ensure all issues are fully addressed."

[dutchman]

Coventry hospital changes procedures after woman's death

A hospital has changed its procedures after a woman allegedly called a "malingerer" by a nurse died from a previously diagnosed aneurysm, an inquest heard.

June Foxwell, 76, died days after she was sent home from University Hospitals Coventry.

At an inquest in Coventry, coroner Richard Brittain recorded a verdict of natural causes.

He said he was satisfied the hospital had taken steps to change procedures.

The inquest heard the registrar who had seen her in the early hours of that morning, Mohammed Morsy, wrote in Mrs Foxwell's notes that she should return "home when confident".

However, he told the hearing he meant for her to be reviewed by a surgeon in the morning.

"I should have documented in the records that she should stay until morning," he said.

Vascular surgeon Chris Imray told the court if he had been aware, he would have insisted that she was admitted on to a ward and and scanned again.

The hospital said this was now procedure for all patients presenting with back, kidney and abdomen pain.

Professor Meghana Pandit, chief medical officer at the hospital said: "We would like to apologise unreservedly to the family of Mrs Foxwell for the significant distress they have suffered.

"We offer our sincere sympathies."