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BBC News
7 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Scarborough hospital death prompts coroner's concerns
A coroner has expressed concerns about delays in hospital treatment, including a failure to recognise medical alert bracelets before a woman's Stones, 53, died at Scarborough Hospital on 17 September 2023 and following an inquest last month the area's assistant coroner has issued a Prevention of Future Deaths Kane said Ms Stones had complex medical problems and she found during the course of the inquest there were "delays in recognising and appropriately treating" her York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it recognised the coroner's concerns and would set out an action plan to address any recommendations. Ms Kane said Ms Stones' medical conditions included Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and in 2021 she had suffered Catastrophic Antiphospholipid Syndrome (CAPS) which led to Addison's Disease (AD).As a result her body could not produce cortisol and she required lifelong steroid treatment with hydrocortisone. If she had an infection she would need her hydrocortisone level to be recalibrated to manage Kane said Ms Stones had been taken to hospital on 10 September 2023 where she was given a provisional diagnosis of suspected gallstones and discharged home with oral antibiotics and medical notes showed that those treating her were aware that her medical history included the diagnoses of APS and days later she attended the hospital for a planned ultrasound and was diagnosed with Acute Cholecystitis with was again discharged home and advised to complete the course of antibiotics she had previously been on the 16 September she was blue lighted to hospital with suspected Cholecystitis. 'Failure to prioritise' The ambulance service had alerted the hospital about her condition but when she arrived there was a delay of two hours before she was moved to coroner added there had also been a delay in administering intravenous antibiotics and fluids leading to Ms Stones developing was also a substantial delay before it was recognised that she had AD and required Stones died in intensive care on 17 September Kane said she was unable to determine on the balance of probabilities if the delays in treatment "caused or more than minimally contributed to her death". "However, there was evidence of omissions and delays in the treatment that Joanne received which caused me concern," she coroner raised a number of concerns in her failure to prioritise her despite the ambulance service alert, that Ms Stones had worn two medical alert bracelets about her existing conditions which staff did not were also no red flags on her medical records highlighting her APS and AD diagnoses to the treating Kane said doctors had to rely on a "very sick patient" to confirm any medical conditions."There was no liaison with Rheumatology, who had extensive knowledge and experience of Joanne and how to treat her conditions," she added."It was not clear from the medical notes that staff treating Joanne had considered the relevance of her APS and AD in her treatment plan." 'Ensure learning' A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it wished "to extend our sincere condolences to Ms Stones' family"."We recognise and share the concerns raised by HM's Coroner. Following the conclusion of the inquest, we acknowledge the coroner's recommendations and fully accept the need for further action."We will be setting out our action plan and implementation timetable to meet the coroner's deadline, and a full response will be shared with the coroner in due course."We remain fully committed to patient safety and will take all necessary steps to ensure learning and improvement where needed." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Walsall Council provides update on future of former Bloxwich Hospital
The deputy leader of Walsall Council has provided an update following speculation about the future of the former Bloxwich Hospital site. The premises, still owned by the Black Country NHS Trust, was last used as a psychiatric facility before its closure in February 2025. READ MORE: Nine Walsall councillors blocked from standing in 2026 elections amid Conservative branch chaos The sale of the Reeves Street site is part of an agreement that has allowed the trust to secure funding for the newly opened Older People's Inpatient Unit at Dorothy Pattison Hospital. Since its closure, social media has been flooded with unsubstantiated claims that the building will be converted into 'luxury' accommodation for 'illegals'. However the trust said it was committed to ensuring any future use for the site will 'align with the needs of the community'. Currently, the building has no existing planning permissions and no live planning applications are under assessment by the council for any alternative use. Ward member for Bloxwich West, Councillor Michael Coulson, asked for the update at full council on July 30. Deputy leader Councillor Adrian Andrew responded: 'The trust, after interventions by officers, myself and Councillor Flint, are committed to ensuring that any future use for the site aligns with the needs of our community. 'They are working closely with us now to support the disposal and deliver a scheme that meets local needs. 'Any forthcoming proposal will be subject to a planning application and associated formal statutory consultation process.' Council Andrew said he has been 'quite firm' with the chief executive of the trust about its responsibility to secure the building. He added: 'Organisations which own public property need to make sure it is secured and that they are not causing a problem to the communities they represent, otherwise it just passes the bill on. 'Whether that's to the fire service because of an arson attack, or the police, or the council because we have to start taking enforcement action. 'I've been quite firm about their responsibility as a public sector organisation to the people that we all represent.'
Times
01-08-2025
- General
- Times
Class snobbery is at heart of NHS gender war
Outside the tribunal in Dundee, Jane Russell KC, stopped to pet a border collie. 'Would that be a female dog or a male dog?' asked a mischievous Scot. Russell laughed nervously. 'Ha-HAH! Well, I don't know. How would you know?' she mumbled, then darted into the building. Does Russell, a keen horsewoman who celebrated taking silk by galloping through London on a steed called Jupiter, really believe biological sex is 'complicated', that babies — and, presumably, dogs and horses — are randomly 'assigned' male or female at birth by a midwife/vet? Or is this just fashionable sophistry she deploys to defend her clients NHS Fife and the trans-identified male doctor Beth Upton? Certainly for Sandie Peggie this postmodern conceit is no joke. A nurse for 30 years, she was suspended, put through internal disciplinary hearings and at this tribunal has endured scrutiny of every intimate matter, from her menstrual cycle to whether she loves her lesbian daughter, just for upholding a basic truth: sex is real. Of all such cases — and I've followed many — none encapsulates the shibboleths, snobberies and magical thinking of our age so well. Day after day we heard doctors and managers of Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, relate how they unashamedly closed ranks against a working-class nurse, whose rights, feelings or even basic humanity fell beyond their #BeKind purview. It started on Christmas Eve 2023, when Peggie rushed to the female changing rooms, fearing that a sudden menstrual flood — a common occurrence around menopause — had soaked her scrubs. When Dr Upton entered, Peggie says she told him he was making her feel uncomfortable and asked him to leave. But this incident, which sparked almost two years of litigation, isn't the most shocking. Twice before, Peggie had come in to change, seen Upton, turned around and waited outside until he left. She'd said nothing, just declined to undress in front of him. But Upton reported her anyway and — amazingly — his line manager Dr Kate Searle took his side: 'Beth felt uncomfortable with someone behaving differently like that.' Even silent dissent wouldn't do. The only acceptable course of action was for Peggie to tamp down her embarrassment and strip — only then could a six-foot-tall man's belief that he is a woman remain intact. Did Searle ask Peggie how she felt? 'I didn't make that approach.' Instead, after Christmas, Searle sat down with Upton and filled in an official complaint in which (she has admitted on oath) she incorrectly asserted that Peggie had compared him to the trans rapist Isla Bryson. Then, against all disciplinary protocol, Searle emailed other doctors to rally support for Upton, telling them to avoid 'foot in mouth' misspeaks which might stop Peggie, who was instantly suspended, being punished. Each day we learnt new ways in which senior hospital staff had persecuted a nurse with a flawless record. Jamie Doyle, head of nursing, wanted Peggie reported to the police. Upton claimed to have noted earlier incidents in which Peggie's hostility towards him had endangered patients. But no one corroborated these grave claims and an IT expert who analysed Upton's phone testified that these were not contemporaneous notes but added after the Christmas Eve row. (Peggie was cleared of these and other allegations in a separate hospital disciplinary inquiry.) Why did all of these senior people fall over themselves to take Upton's side, even at the expense of truth? Because trans identity tops an all-important oppression hierarchy and the purest form of virtue is being a 'trans ally'. To prove this, both the head of diversity, Isla Bumba, and Searle, an A&E consultant, claimed neither knew Upton's sex, or even their own. 'I've never had my chromosomes tested,' said Bumba. Does Searle do this before prescribing the correct drug dosage for a female patient? Of course not. No one really believes such absurdity: they mouth it out of religious obeisance. At the base of that purity pyramid are women like Sandie Peggie: boring, menopausal, the ancillary people who confront biological sex in every backside they wipe. Working-class Peggie doesn't hold the received opinions: Russell scoured a seven-year-long private Facebook group of nurses Peggie had holidayed with to find that she'd reposted horrible jokes about the Pakistani floods, is against sharia and illegal migration, and was initially upset that her daughter was gay. The notion was: this 'bigot' doesn't merit rights. But just as a black person who makes antisemitic jokes or a trans woman who posts 'Die in a fire, TERF' still deserve protection against discrimination or violence, Peggie, whatever her views, has the right to undress at work without being watched by a man. Now the Peggie tribunal evidence has concluded, the judgment will come later this year and she is predicted to receive a substantial payout. But the case of the Darlington nurses — who also objected to a man changing with them — is scheduled for a full tribunal in October; a similar case involving a Muslim nurse is pending, while Jennifer Melle, a black nurse who was racially abused by a trans-identifying male paedophile in police custody because she referred to him as 'Mister', is still suspended by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust. Four months after the Supreme Court clarified the meaning of sex, it is an outrage that public money is still being squandered while women fight for basic rights. Why does the Health and Safety Executive not remind employers of 1992 workplace laws which mandate single-sex changing? Why are NHS England and the NHS Confederation allowed by the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to drag their feet? The ludicrous joke that sex is an unfathomable mystery has worn very thin.
BBC News
01-08-2025
- Health
- BBC News
The hospital specialists visiting patients in their Sandwell homes
In days gone by doctors would frequently visit patients at home. In one part of the West Midlands, they are going back to old staff in Sandwell and west Birmingham liaise with GPs, paramedics, social care and district nurses, sending doctors and other health specialists to people's homes to deliver care more conventionally given in Tonks, 92, from Edgbaston, is among those being treated by acute doctors (medical specialists) and a nurse for fluid on his lungs and heart problems."I can't believe how good it's been actually. It seems as if everybody's been falling over themselves to do something or other for me," he said. Part of the NHS 10-year plan is to have more people be treated in their the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in Smethwick, which serves one of the most deprived areas of the country, has already been doing visit about 20 acutely unwell people every week and a range of other health professionals provide care for many Sarb Clare, an acute medical consultant, said Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust had reduced its number of beds by 100 and instead invested in treating people at home and in the said acute care had been turned on its head. "The patients absolutely love it – the fact they get to see a doctor in their own homes, we are going back full circle, aren't we?"We used to see our GPs, they used to come to our houses, they used to give us treatment. "We are coming back to that, but what's unusual is now we've got doctors who traditionally work in hospitals now going in patients' homes and delivering acute care." Dr Clare said she never thought years ago as a doctor in hospital that she would be going into people's homes, "but it just makes sense". In Mr Tonks' flat, Dr Sharjeel Kiani and his colleagues have given him daily to hospital "doesn't come without risks", Dr Kiani said."A lot of patients can have falls, develop deliriums, they can contract hospital acquired infections, so it's in his interest if we can try and keep him at home."Despite being quite unwell, Mr Tonks seemed pleased to be at home."I've been to hospital a few times in my life, which has always been ok, I've never had any complaints about hospital. But I'd much rather be at home," he said. Speaking at the Smethwick hospital's emergency department, palliative care specialist Dr Mike Blaber said the most vulnerable often arrived there, but palliative care had been delivered at home for a number of years. Other departments have embraced home care and so-called virtual wards too."We now have a paediatric, a respiratory, a cardiology, and a frailty virtual ward with specialists who can go into the patient's home, look after them there."He added it was safe, "that's really important". "Hospital is always an option that's available to people, if they need it. "It's just that a lot of the time that's not what's needed and we know that particularly for frail elderly patients or for terminally ill patients, hospitals actually are not always the safest place to be." The hospital was recently recognised at an international awards ceremony for its work in improving access to care and health inequalities. Staff received the Alliance Medical Health Inequalities Award at the Royal College of Physicians' Excellence in Patient Care Awards.A Department of Health & Social Care spokesperson said: "If we are to get patients cared for we need to shift the focus of the NHS from hospitals to the community. "We are bringing together teams of professionals closer to people's home - nurses, doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, health visitors and more – to work together to provide comprehensive care in the community." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
ITV News
29-07-2025
- Health
- ITV News
Graduate who died after refusing chemo ‘told court she was anti-vax'
A University of Cambridge graduate who died after refusing chemotherapy told a court that she was 'anti-vax' and always turned to her mother first for health advice, an inquest has heard. Paloma Shemirani, 23, died at Royal Sussex County Hospital on 24 July last year after declining the treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Her mother, Kay 'Kate' Shemirani, rose to prominence on social media while sharing Covid-19 conspiracy theories, the inquest at Oakwood House in Maidstone, Kent, heard previously. In written statements submitted to the family division of the High Court in Spring 2024, Paloma said she declined chemotherapy partly because of her 'background in natural healing', the inquest heard on Monday. The proceedings, which involved the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, were on the appropriateness of her care and Paloma said she was 'delighted' with her alternative treatment and 'sure' she would 'make a full recovery' if left to continue it, the inquest was told. She also claimed her human rights had been violated by NHS practitioners in the statements, which were read by lawyer Alison Hewitt. Ms Kay Shemirani, who attended the inquest via video link, weeped and held pictures of Paloma to the camera as they were read. The statements read: 'I am far from being a vulnerable young adult. Apart from becoming independent after I moved to Cambridge for university, I have practised the same principles that I grew up with. 'I have always been extremely health conscious: sticking to all-organic produce, I prepare all my own meals and I absolutely do not drink or cook with tap water. 'I have never taken drugs, despite pressure to, and I rarely drink alcohol. 'If I became ill, I've always turned to my mum first for advice as she is a trained nurse and qualified nutritionist. 'Practically fanatical about my health, my close friends know me as a staunch advocate for all proven natural healing'. She also described her mother as 'an extremely forceful advocate for natural health' who is 'misquoted' by people claiming 'those natural solutions are conspiratorial'. Ms Kay Shemirani was struck off as a nurse in 2021, with a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) committee finding that she had spread Covid-19 misinformation that 'put the public at a significant risk of harm', the inquest heard previously. Another statement in Paloma's name added: 'my friends know me as a staunch advocate of the Gerson therapy' and that she is 'anti-vax'. She said she had been using Gerson therapy as one mode of treatment on the advice of her mother's ex-fiance, Doctor Patrick Villers, and that at 15 years old she spent three weeks in his camp in Mexico where it was practised. Gerson therapy involves a strict organic vegetarian diet and enemas and has been used in cancer treatment, though Cancer Research UK says that there is no scientific evidence it can be used as a treatment for cancer. Her GP was also monitoring her blood and progress, she said. The former Cambridge student went on to deny having the disease and said 'I was not diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma… I have never had a shadow on my lung, this is absurd fantasy, no proof'. She described the diagnosis as 'suspected and unconfirmed', and said a 'differential diagnosis' only meant cancer could not be ruled out. Paloma understood that she had a one-in-five chance of surviving the commonplace R-CHOP treatment that was offered, and feared it would likely make her infertile, the inquest heard. 'I do not want to undergo such a harsh treatment that could even kill me when there is a possibility this is not cancer', she said. The High Court statement alleged multiple violations of human rights in her care, the inquest heard, including Articles 3, 6 and 8 and possibly Articles 1, 5 and 12. 'I am so shocked, as are others assisting me, especially my mother, that this could take place today', the statement said. 'These were put in place forever to prevent what Dr Mengele did in the second world war. How could this happen today?', it continued. Notorious Nazi doctor Josef Mengele performed experiments on his victims in Auschwitz. The patient said symptoms she presented in hospital with – including a swollen face, excruciating chest pain being unable to move her arm – had subsided. Coroner Catherine Wood reprimanded Ms Shemirani multiple times during proceedings. Ms Shemirani cross-examined Dr Amit Goel, a consultant histopathologist at Maidstone Hospital who carried out a biopsy. She repeatedly put to him that insufficient tissue was taken to carry out a FISH test that could rule out other diseases and alter Paloma's treatment plan. The doctor denied that this would have influenced Paloma's care multiple times, and the coroner told Ms Shemirani the inquest is trying to look at 'how Paloma came about her death' but 'you are apparently trying to get information which is incorrect, factually incorrect, in the statements you are making'. 'I think your questions are just designed to take up time and delay matters by the way you're asking them repeatedly,' she added. The mother accused participants of mis-pronouncing her name, which eventually led Ms Wood to say: 'I am going to rise, for Ms Shemirani to reflect on her behaviour in court, this is unacceptable. 'Let's have a pause for tempers to die down because you are clearly becoming over-fixated on a detail.' At the opening of the hearing Ms Shemirani made an application for a lawyer to recuse herself. The coroner rejected the application and said had seen the 'hundreds of emails that have been sent in' and that 'you have requested that everybody recuse themselves at various times', including the coroner herself. The inquest continues.
