A 94-year-old great-grandmother bled to death after NHS staff refused to treat her.
A 94-year-old great-grandmother from Aveley, was initially referred to A&E by her GP. Her referral notes warned that the golf-ball sized lump on her leg could bleed imminently.
Rather than receiving treatment, Cynthia Butcher was turned away by the doctors at the Basildon Hospital, Essex. Their reason was that they were not able to perform the procedure since Mrs Butcher was over 70. She was rejected and sent back to her sheltered accommodation.
Mrs Butcher was alone at home when the lump burst. Her call for help was left unheard as the warden was not on duty at the time and the paramedics did not arrive.
Mrs Butcher died in her flat alone, desperately waiting for some help as she tried to stop the blood flow, losing more than four pints of blood. Although the paramedics succeeded in resuscitating her, the brain damage she sustained was too extensive.
The doctors were not able to keep her alive and Mrs Butcher died in the hospital.
Rather than performing a minor operation that could have been done in a short period of time under a local anaesthetic, they spend possibly thousands of pounds trying to keep her alive in the aftermath. We find the mistake of the doctors quite glaring here and wonder if her death could have been easily avoided with an operation.
Mrs Butcher was a mother to four children, grandmother to eleven and had one great-grandchild. One of her children, Lynda Clements, have stated in the Daily Mail Online that her mother was a real matriarch and the family is quite understandably devastated over her death.
Basildon Hospital’s spokesperson has offered their condolences to the family of Mrs Butcher for their loss and claims they aim to provide outstanding care and treatment to their patients, but we don’t believe that seems like quite enough in this situation.
Mrs Butcher was also apparently on the list for urgent elective surgery in 2018, with the hospital attempting to move her onto an earlier weekend list. The spokesperson also mentioned that Mid-Essex, southern and Basildon hospitals have plans to become a new single NHS organisation in April 2020. The plans will mean that Basildon will have an emergency vascular surgery unit with more staff to provide better access and care to patients.
Only time will tell if the plans will come to realisation and if the hospital has learned from its mistake. Sadly, we believe mistakes such as these will continue to happen, if not at this hospital than at another. People are constantly being misdiagnosed and refused the treatment they need.
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