Coroner rules no case of neglect

CORONER Simon Nelson has ruled there was no case of neglect after a 63-year-old woman died at the Royal Oldham Hospital.

Mr Nelson gave a verdict of multi-organ failure occurring as a result of a perforated small intestine, pancreatitis and peritonitis, after hearing conflicting medical evidence over the treatment of Marjorie Cunningham.

The grandmother, of Linkside Avenue, Royton, was admitted to the hospital with suspected gall stones on March 31, 2011.

She was operated on but her condition gradually deteriorated. Mrs Cunningham died on June 23, 2011.

Dr Alan Padwell, who carried out the post mortem, said that among other health issues he found extensive damage to the pancreas and a perforation of the duodenum.

Consultant surgeon David Flook told the coroner that the endoscopic sphicterotomy was the kind of routine 15-minute operation he performed every week.

The two doctors initially disagreed on the location of the perforation and cause of death but Dr Padwell told the Rochdale inquest it is possible for perforations to seal and eventually concluded there may have been two.

David Kenny, counsel for the family, questioned the time it took to admit Mrs Cunningham to the high-dependency unit when she had been given 2,500ml of fluids but passed only 34ml. Mr Flook agreed it would have been ideal to move her earlier.

Dr Padwell said: “What I saw at post mortem was consistent with the effects of pancreatitis,” he said, before adding that she had a predisposition to the condition.

Mr Nelson, who did not find a case for neglect, added: “I don’t think over the evidence, that I can distinguish between either perforation occurring in the course of or post-operatively — but more likely it was caused in the course of.

“I perceive from Dr Padwell’s evidence that there was no mismanagement.”

Mrs Cunningham was described a bubbly, caring family-orientated woman, who worked as a receptionist.