NURSES tried to send home a dying man who had slipped into a coma - telling his carers he was just sleeping.

Medics caring for Ronald Eaton at the Manchester Royal Infirmary even attempted to dress him for discharge before they realised he was unconscious.

A carer who accompanied Mr Eaton to hospital said she raised the alarm when she was unable to wake Mr Eaton despite 'jiggling' him and lifting his eyelids.
 
Mr Eaton, known as Ronnie, died three days later after never regaining consciousness.

Coroner Nigel Meadows said it 'beggared belief' that the nurses did not notice that the 76-year-old was critically ill.

Blunders

Mr Meadows blasted the hospital over a catalogue of blunders that contributed to his death.

He is to now to bring the case to the notice of Health Secretary Andy Burnham and the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, because he wants the lessons learned to be 'for national attention'.

Mr Eaton, who had significant learning difficulties, was admitted to the MRI on May 24 this year after collapsing at his home in Levenshulme.

His carer warned nurses he did not like bed rails and they should not be used.

Despite that rails WERE put around his cot  – and Mr Eaton was found on the floor at 4.30am the next morning after having tried to climb out.

He suffered a 3-4cm cut to his head.

He was transferred to another ward the next morning, but regular checks on his condition were not carried out.

It was only at 9am that his carer, Laura Platt, noticed that he could not be roused.

Sleeping

She told ward staff – who dismissed her concern and said Mr Eaton was just sleeping.

It was only at 12 noon when a nurse who was attempting to dress him to go home realised he had slipped into a coma.

He was transferred to the specialist neurological unit at Salford Royal Hospital but later died.
 
At an inquest yesterday Mr Meadows recorded a catalogue of blunders that contributed to Mr Eaton's death.

He ruled that hospital staff:

Dr John Simpson, a consultant at the hospital, admitted that 'without question' doctors should have made regular checks on Mr Eaton after he fell out of bed.

He added: "There is no record of that in the notes."

The two nurses involved admitted they had never read the basic guidelines on the treatment of head injuries.

Lessons

And although the hospital insisted that lessons had been learned since Mr Eaton's death, the same nurses admitted in court that they had still not read the guidelines - six months later.

Mr Eaton's carers wept and mouthed 'thank you' to the jury after they passed a narrative verdict.
 
The jury found that 'inadequate knowledge' and 'failures of communication' by hospital staff had contributed to Mr Eaton's death.

A spokesman for Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are extremely sorry for the death of Mr Eaton. We admit there were a number of failings in his care and we have the deepest regret that our normal high standard of care was not upheld."

They added that staff were being given training in the treatment of head injuries and the care of patients with learning disabilities.