Mum and daughter found dead at home months after 999 plea
An inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court, led by assistant coroner Amanda Bewley, is expected to last five days.Alphonsine's medical cause of death was proposed as pneumonia while her daughter's was "unascertained", pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton said in evidence. The inquest heard Loraine, who had Down's Syndrome and learning disabilities, was "entirely dependent" on her mother.Dr Hamilton said he could "not rule out" that Alphonsine might have died on 2 February, which is when she called 999.
Alphonsine had been admitted to City Hospital on 26 January with a lower respiratory tract infection and needed blood transfusions due to low iron levels.The inquest heard despite the hospital wanting her to stay, she was "discharged pragmatically" on 28 January to return to her daughter.It was agreed she would return the next day, but she did not come back, and the hospital and her GP were unable to contact her. On 2 February, Alphonsine called 999 asking for an ambulance, the inquest heard.She told a call handler she needed help for herself and her daughter."I feel cold and I can't move," she told the call handler.
'Missed opportunity'
In a transcript read out at the inquest, the call handler asked several times what language Alphonsine spoke and whether she needed an interpreter. Despite not responding to those questions, she gave her address and asked again for an ambulance. "Would you send an ambulance? Please come, please," were the last words she said on the phone before the call ended. Giving evidence, Susan Jevons, a paramedic and head of the coroners service at East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), said an attempt was made to call Alphonsine back with no answer."The ambulance didn't go to the address because the emergency medical advisor, thinking it was an abandoned call, closed the call down," Mrs Jevons said. She added that should "never had happened" as they had her address, telephone number, and details of her symptoms. An internal investigation found there was a "missed opportunity" for an ambulance to attend the day Alphonsine called. Mrs Jevons apologised on behalf of EMAS for "all of the errors" it madeThe inquest continues.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Grandmother died of sepsis after being misdiagnosed with stomach complaint
A grandmother died of sepsis after doctors failed to recognise signs of a urinary tract obstruction, a coroner has found. Suzanne Edwards, 71, of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, visited her GP on Nov 29 2024 with abdominal pain and vomiting but despite urgent blood and urine tests she was not sent to hospital. Later that day her symptoms worsened and she went to A&E at Milton Keynes University Hospital, Bucks. Her test results were indicative of systemic inflammation and dehydration but she was diagnosed with gastroenteritis and discharged. Her condition deteriorated further and the following day her family called NHS 111. She was directed to an urgent care centre and transferred to Bedford Hospital where clinicians identified a 7mm stone in her urinary tract and sepsis. She underwent emergency surgery but died later on the evening of Dec 1 from septic shock. 'Heart of our family' Stacey Edwards, her daughter, said: 'My mum was the heart of our family – full of warmth, compassion and humour. 'It's devastating to know that her death may have been avoided if the signs of sepsis had been recognised sooner.' Her family described her as 'an unbelievably kind and caring woman with a wicked sense of humour and fun'. She leaves behind husband Terence, two children and two granddaughters. Stacey said: 'When she visited her GP she was so unwell she used a wheelchair. 'After she was taken to A&E we were told it was likely gastroenteritis. She was given IV fluids and pain relief but she was still in pain and struggling. 'There was very little communication from doctors and when she was discharged we were simply told to come back if symptoms returned. 'At home, things got worse. But because she'd been examined by medical professionals we thought she just needed time to recover. 'The call we received later that evening asking us to come in urgently is something we'll never forget. 'Neither is watching her suffer in those final days.' Jewellery went missing Soon after her death Mrs Edwards' family realised her jewellery worth thousands of pounds – three necklaces and four bracelets – were missing. Stacey said: 'Mum never took off her jewellery. 'It is heartbreaking to think someone may have taken advantage of such a tragic situation.' Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust launched a full investigation and search at the time but the items were never found. Tom Osborne, the senior coroner for Milton Keynes, recorded a narrative verdict saying there was a failure to recognise the signs of a urinary tract obstruction, leading to missed opportunities to treat Mrs Edwards before sepsis developed.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Parents, beware the devastating consequences of measles
After reading the letters about vaccine misinformation and hesitancy (Measles surge shows why vaccinations are crucial, 20 July), I felt I must write to tell you of one unrecognised cause of the drop in vaccine uptake: when I worked as a community school nursing sister in the 1980s, with 11 state schools and a number of private schools that took up the vaccine service, we had 98% uptake of vaccines in the school setting. This was due to the system of sending letters home to parents requesting their consent and following up by phone, if necessary, by the school office staff. The children came in class batches. Then the local health authority decided that this service should be discontinued and parents were invited to take their child to the local GP surgery for their vaccinations. The uptake plummeted to less than 40% of eligible children due to children not taking the letters home, or parents forgetting or losing the letter – or being unable to take time off to take their child to the surgery. When I asked the GPs at the local health centre what the uptake for the cohort of eligible children was, they looked at their records and were surprised, but reluctant to do anything about it. Health visitors were responsible for, and very successful in, advising new mothers when vaccines were due, where to get them and encouraging uptake. It should be compulsory for all vaccines for preschool children (which includes measles) to be done before a child is admitted to school, as in many other countries. As a midwife, I saw a baby born to a mother who had contact with rubella in early pregnancy. The little girl was born with a body rash, had bilateral cataracts and was totally deaf. She was was very ill. Schools for deaf children may return again for these children if vaccination is not taken up for whatever reason. How StephensLiphook, Hampshire I contracted measles just before the NHS was established. With it came serious ear infections, burst eardrums, etc. There were no vaccines, just ear drops. Over the years the infections and operations continued and now, aged 82, I have no hearing with complications. I beg people to think seriously about vaccination. The consequences of measles can sometimes be devastating. Jean JacksonSeer Green, Buckinghamshire I caught measles aged six in 1953, at a time when parents hoped their children would get it (and chicken pox and mumps) so as to gain immunity. My dad, aged 54, had not had measles as a boy, caught it from me and nearly died. The risk of not vaccinating children is not just to WallLondon
Times
4 hours ago
- Times
Nurses set to reject pay offer as further strike action looms
Nurses will this week overwhelmingly reject their pay deal, raising the prospect that they will join junior doctors on strike. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will warn ministers that they must come back to the table over the summer to avoid a formal strike ballot in the autumn and additional unrest that will further set back NHS recovery. However, public support for doctors' strikes appears to be waning, as ministers accuse them of holding the country to ransom and hospitals report fewer staff joining picket lines. Resident doctors, formerly known junior doctors, are in a five-day walkout after rejecting a 5.4 per cent pay rise, which came after a 22 per cent increase last year. Polling for The Times found that 55 per cent of voters oppose the strike, up from 49 per cent earlier this month, while 32 per cent support it, down four points from the second week of July before the walkouts began. Tom Dolphin, the head of the British Medical Association (BMA), insisted that doctors 'don't want to be on strike', but said the walkouts were necessary because doctors were 'undervalued' and were 'leaving the NHS in large numbers'. He said that pay had to be 'enough to recruit and retain the best doctors'. Ministers have refused to reopen pay talks and negotiations on working conditions collapsed in acrimony last week as ministers accused the BMA of acting in bad faith, while the union said the government had failed to make any concrete offers. • NHS patients told to brace for strikes until Christmas and beyond The BMA is holding out for a full return to 2008 levels of pay and Dolphin said salaries 'reflect the responsibility of these doctors' who were making 'life and death decisions'. He said: 'Even nurses who've had a pretty bad time [are] not as badly off as doctors in terms of lost pay.' Nurses, however, are furious that their 3.6 per cent pay rise this year was lower than doctors' increases for the second year in a row. The RCN is holding an indicative vote on the pay award, which closed on Sunday. The vote is understood to show 'overwhelming' rejection of a deal, with turnout likely to be well over the 50 per cent threshold that would be needed for industrial action. The union is due to announce final results later this week with a call for ministers to return to the table. While the BMA is adamant that headline pay must rise, nurses are thought to be more open to talks on wider pay structures. The RCN has repeatedly complained that nurses can remain on the lowest rung of the NHS pay scale for decades and is expected to press ministers for reforms that would allow them to move up the scale as they gain experience. If no progress is made, a formal strike ballot is likely to be launched in the autumn. A spokesman for the union said: 'The results will be announced to our members later this week. As the largest part of the NHS workforce, nursing staff do not feel valued and the government must urgently begin to turn that around.' It came after ambulance and other hospital staff in the GMB Union voted to reject the 3.6 per cent offer last week, with strike action now being considered. The BMA consultants' committee is also holding an indicative vote over a 4 per cent pay deal it described an 'insult' to senior doctors. Dolphin said the vote was 'a testing of the waters to see where people are', but warned: 'We're certainly very aware already, even before we've done this ballot, the consultants are also very much down on their pay [compared with 2008].' He told Sky News he did not recognise reports that doctors were being paid £6,000 a shift to cover for strikes, but said overtime rates were 'whatever they can manage to negotiate with their employer'.
