Oldham Coroner Simon Nelson wants to see a change in Royal Oldham’s hospital procedure following the sudden death of a patient in 2011. Nelson wants to review the practice of giving anticoagulants (blood thinners) before establishing whether patients have suffered a head injury.
78 year old Frederick Wright died at the hospital five days after being taken to A&E for treatment after collapsing in a pub and hitting his head. Tests initially revealed that this could have been caused by a minor heart attack and so Mr Wright was given anticoagulants to reduce the risk of a second attack. A none-urgent CT scan was ordered to assess potential damage to his head, and his condition appeared to improve.
However, the second scan showed a haemorrhage due to his fall, and which may have continued bleeding since, and Mr Wright’s condition rapidly deteriorated. The post mortem then revealed the cause of death was the brain haemorrhage, made worse by the blood thinners.
A consultant who spoke at the inquest into Mr Wright’s death, said that he showed no significant indicators of a possible head injury, such as headaches, vomiting or confusion, which would have prompted an urgent request for a brain scan, and may have revealed the bleeding sooner.
Coroner Simon Nelson stated that he wants to “see a discussion between consultants to advise if something can be implemented to avoid this situation in the future. This is a difficult case, but one we can learn from.”
Read the source article here: http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/8/news-headlines/81453/coroner-wants-action-over-head-injury-procedures
