Anglesey woman's infected knee went undiagnosed, inquest told

Nesta Jones died more than a month after being admitted to hospital

Doctors missed multiple chances to diagnose the source of a patient's knee infection, an inquest has heard.

Retired teacher Nesta Jones, 77, from Valley on Anglesey, died at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor on 8 May 2017, more than a month after being admitted with suspected septic arthritis.

Mrs Jones had a left knee replacement in 2015, due to rheumatoid arthritis.

Her daughter said she had repeatedly raised concerns about an infection.

Siwsan Jones told the hearing in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, that she kept flagging her mother's swollen and reddened knee to medical staff - describing it as "the elephant in the room".

However, Ms Jones said her mother was subjected to a catalogue of invasive investigations, often left without being able to eat or drink.

"It just felt like a bit of a scattergun approach - investigations were just being repeated," said Ms Jones.

'Increasingly frustrated'

Ms Jones said there were posters on her mother's ward warning staff to be aware of the symptoms of sepsis infections.

"I think I was feeling increasingly frustrated. I pointed out the posters and said 'Why were they ignoring the obvious?'" she told the inquest.

"If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck - it's a duck."

The family's concerns were raised with the clinical teams in writing, and later in a letter to Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board's complaints team.

Mrs Jones was admitted to Ysbyty Gwynedd at the end of March 2017 after her family doctor suspected she had septic arthritis.

But the inquest heard that it was not until the beginning of May 2017 that a procedure was undertaken to physically check if there was an infection in the knee by draining fluid from it.

Ms Jones said the procedure revealed there was pus in the knee joint.

However, her mother's condition continued to deteriorate and she developed pneumonia.

Ms Jones said the death certificate stated her mother had died as a result of complications of old age.

"I felt very unhappy about that, as I didn't think that told the story of what happened to my mum," she said.

The inquest continues.