Grandmother died of sepsis after delay by arguing medics

A GRANDMOTHER died from sepsis after doctors allegedly delayed treating the condition for 12 hours while they argued over which ward to treat her on.

Tina Hughes, 59, was taken to A&E after developing symptoms of sepsis on Sept 8 last year. But despite paramedics flagging to staff they suspected sepsis, it was not mentioned on her initial assessment at Sandwell General Hospital, in West Bromwich.

A second assessment six hours later also failed to mention sepsis while medics disagreed over whether to treat her on a surgical ward or a high-dependency unit. She was eventually transferred to the acute medical unit at 3am where sepsis was finally diagnosed.

But Ms Hughes deteriorated and was admitted to an ICU four hours later and put on a ventilator. She died the following morning on Sept 10. A serious incident investigation report by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust has since found there was “a delay in explicit recognition of sepsis”.

An inquest will be held at a later date. A trust spokesman said: “Our deepest sympathies go out to Tina’s family and we are working with the coroner to provide all information needed to conduct the inquest and will wait for the coroner’s finding in due course.”