Family speaks out over mum's suspected sepsis death

Tracey Farndon, 56, from Birmingham, died on 25 April last year

The family of a woman who died of suspected sepsis after waiting five hours for routine nursing observations to take place in A&E are calling for staff to be properly trained.

Tracey Farndon, 56, died on 25 April last year at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, while awaiting the results of tests.

A serious investigation into her care found Ms Farndon’s assessment and escalation was delayed due to “incomplete and infrequent observations”.

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said it was cooperating with the coroner but it would not be able to comment until the inquest was completed.

Mr Farndon's daughter, Jess, said she had the "gut wrenching feeling" something went wrong with her care

A serious incident investigation looked at the circumstances surrounding the clinical management of Ms Farndon, whose inquest is scheduled to take place on Thursday 4 April.

The report by the trust, seen by the BBC, said the incomplete observations in her care were caused by “reduced staffing against the volume of patients and acuity of the department".

Sepsis was not considered as part of the differential diagnosis so antibiotics were not prescribed, the report said.

It added that repeat patient observations may have led to "earlier identification of the patient's deterioration" as well as "earlier escalation" to the nurse in charge and doctor and commencement of sepsis screening.

Her family said observations which should have been done hourly were not completed properly until five hours after her arrival, where she was found to have low blood pressure.

Ms Farndon's partner, Tom Parkin, said they had called for an ambulance after three days of vomiting and pain but were told there was a seven-hour wait.

After driving to the hospital, she was was seen by medical staff at about 02:30 GMT and given diazepam and morphine as she was "screaming" in pain.

Tom Parkin said he had to "stand in the way" of a trainee doctor to get their attention

The investigation found tests taken at the time were "incomplete," as "no blood pressure reading was obtained".

“Nurses, HDA's, whatever their uniform, were all congregated in an office and you had to go down and bang on the door in this office to try and get some attention," Mr Parkin said.

“It was very obvious that somebody was in an awful lot of pain."

“People just really didn’t seem to have the old school goodwill that I remember from the NHS when I was younger," he added.

He said he had to “stand in the way” of a trainee doctor to tell them his partner was in pain, before she was observed again at about 07:30 and found to have low blood pressure and an increased heart rate.

Ms Farndon was transferred to a cubicle, but she went into cardiac arrest and died at about 11:30.

'Gut-wrenching feeling'

Mr Parkin described his partner as "compassionate, patient, and selfless," and a "force of nature for the underprivileged".

Ms Farndon's daughter, Jess Sulmina was seven-months pregnant at the time and said her mother had "so many more memories to share with the family."

Speaking of her mother's care, she added: “We just walked out of the hospital in complete bewilderment, feeling angry, why has this happened, and just with more questions than answers.

“And just having gut-wrenching feeling that something has gone really wrong with her care.”

A spokesperson for the trust added: “Our thoughts and condolences remain with Tracey Farndon’s loved ones, at what must continue to be an extremely difficult time for them.

“We have fully cooperated with HM Coroner in preparation for Ms Farndon’s impending inquest and until it has concluded, it would not be appropriate for us to provide any further comment.”