Grandmother dies after 'do not resuscitate' error

Patricia Dawson had "never been ill" before her hospital visit

The family of a woman who died in hospital after her notes got mixed up with those of another patient have said the mistake is "unacceptable".

Patricia Dawson, 73, died at Royal Blackburn Hospital on 19 September following two cardiac arrests.

An inquest heard that Mrs Dawson's death had been contributed to by "neglect" after staff mistakenly believed she had a "do not resuscitate" notice.

The hospital apologised and said the "tragic incident should never have happened".

'I was so numb'

Mrs Dawson, from Rossendale, Lancashire, was initially taken to hospital by her son, John Dawson, over a suspected bowel obstruction.

An inquest at Accrington Town Hall heard that while in hospital, Mrs Dawson had a cardiac arrest but was resuscitated and responding well.

However, after a second cardiac arrest, no attempts at CPR were made, the coroner said.

This was due to a health worker checking the wrong notes, mixing up Mrs Dawson, who did want to be resuscitated, with a man in his 90s who did not want to be.

"They turned around and said sorry, they've got do not resuscitate (DNR) on her," her son, Mr Dawson, said.

"I said 'no she wouldn't have had that' because she's never been ill, or in a position to think when the time comes this would be the best thing.

"But I was in such a state of shock, I was so numb so I thought right, I better make some phone calls."

Patricia Dawson was a keen gardener and loved spending time with her grandson, her family said

'Never been ill'

Kate Bisset, coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen, said Mrs Dawson's death was "contributed to by neglect in not checking her identity matched the identity of the patient with the do not resuscitate order in place."

At the inquest it was acknowledged the hospital was "over capacity" at the time of Mrs Dawson's arrival.

Mrs Dawson had not been seriously ill until last year, her family said.

"She was still doing the school pick-ups, driving, so you wouldn't think of her as old and frail," said Mr Dawson.

"She had never been ill in her life."

Patricia Dawson, far right with her son and grandson, died after hospital notes got mixed up

The family said they wanted hospital staff to "take an extra 10 seconds" to check the patients they are dealing with.

Paula Dawson, daughter-in-law to Patricia, said: "It's unacceptable that people have been put in that position where they haven't got time to double check."

Jawad Husain, executive medical director at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said they were "grateful" the coroner recognised the difficult circumstances within their emergency department at the time but admitted it should never have happened.

Mr Husain said: "This is a tragic incident that should never have happened and for that we are truly sorry.

"We are grateful that the coroner recognised the difficult circumstances within our emergency department, as our team work so hard to provide care for all our patients."