Patient, 82, 'left untreated for days'

An 82-year-old woman suffered a severe stroke in hospital that went untreated for five days, an inquest heard.

The family of Muriel Ross, of Ball Lane, Wolverhampton, are not satisfied with the level of care the pensioner received at the city's New Cross Hospital.

Mrs Ross was admitted to the hospital with shortness of breath in February this year.

She died of a heart attack days later.

Her daughter Joy Prior told her inquest yesterday that her mother had suffered a stroke.

Ms Prior told Black Country Coroner Robin Balmain: "As soon as I walked in to see her it was evident that she had suffered a severe stroke.

"I went to the nurse in charge and asked her when she'd had the stroke. She didn't know anything about it."

Ms Prior said she continued to ask for days what medical intervention had been taken to help her mother, but never got a straight answer, and said she saw her mother confused and clawing the air.

She said she called the hospital and was "sobbing her heart out" on the phone for help. "I was in tears and I was begging," she said, but she was again told the following day that her mother would be fine."

Mrs Ross was eventually given aspirin five days after the stroke, Ms Prior said. She died on February 27 this year.

Staff called her children to the hospital urgently when they saw she was deteriorating, but when Ms Prior arrived 10 minutes later her mother had already died.

Ms Prior said: "She was fully compos mentis, and she was not about to die. I strongly feel that her death could have been prevented.

"My mother had no medical intervention for this severe stroke that had happened. I think the trauma of that on my mother brought the heart attack on.

"I asked the registrar what sort of night she had had, and he said she had a troubled night.

A doctor was called but he was too busy because he had to go to another patient."

Pathologist Ye Lin Hock, who conducted the post mortem at Walsall Manor Hospital, said Mrs Ross had heart disease caused by her arteries furring up and the cause of her death was a heart attack.

He said it was possible that the stress of a stroke on the body can bring on a heart attack.

Mr Hock said he also noted that Mrs Ross had a bruise on her left leg and under her left eye.

The inquest was adjourned. New Cross Hospital declined to comment.