A HOSPITAL has come under fire following the death of a woman two weeks after a routine operation.

Stockport coroner John Pollard is writing to bosses at Stepping Hill over the death of hairdresser and mum-of-two Lesley Cahill, 50, who died of pneumonia and multiple organ failure after a hysterectomy last year.

However, Mr Pollard ruled there wasn’t any neglect on the hospital’s part.

And experts told an inquest her death probably could not have been prevented, as she suffered a ‘one in a million’, undiagnosable reaction to her anaesthetic.

Mr Pollard found that staff had failed to communicate with each other or with the family as her condition deteriorated due to a reaction to her anaesthetic.

He also said staff failed to keep proper notes or records, and that junior staff had been left to make important decisions. Two weeks after being admitted, Mrs Cahill, who lived in Hazel Grove, suffered liver failure, but staff failed to take note of earlier liver tests that had flagged up the problem, the inquest heard.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, Mr Pollard said: "Her general care seems to have been variable at best and the standard and level of communication between the medics and nurses and the family left much to be desired.  It’s important to remember that this lady went into hospital, in the words of her GP, ‘well and of no significant ill health’. Fourteen days later she was dead. Not for the first time in an inquest I have to say the quality of note keeping by both medical and nursing staff fell very short of acceptable."

Mr Pollard is now writing to the chief executive of Stepping Hill Hospital to recommend better record-keeping and communication, and will also point out low staffing levels. However, he stopped short of returning a neglect verdict.

Mr Pollard added: "I don’t think this affected the outcome of this case but it so easily could have done so. Neglect means a gross failure to provide basic medical attention. Whilst it is clear in this case that the standard of care fell below the optimal I don’t consider there was a gross failure."

Mrs Cahill, who ran John Lesley hairdressing in Hazel Grove with her husband John, was an active and devoted mother and churchgoer before the operation.

The sporty 50-year-old, who was Stockport Slimmer of the Year in 2006, was admitted to hospital in August 2008. But her family say they could see her condition deteriorating but were ignored by staff.

Husband John said after the inquest: "I was aware that Lesley was very poorly 48 hours after the operation and they told me not to worry. She just went downhill rapidly from there.

He claimed: "She wasn’t cared for properly. When we went to speak to them they didn’t want to know. They weren’t interested at all. We alerted the staff to the fact she wasn’t eating or drinking. They didn’t act upon it at all."

He added: "It shocked Hazel Grove that a perfectly healthy woman went into hospital for a routine operation and didn’t come back out. She was the picture of health."

Representing the hospital trust, Rebecca Fitzpatrick told the inquest there had already been an internal investigation into Lesley’s death, which had been deemed a ‘Serious Untoward Incident’.

She added: "The Trust has accepted that record-keeping was poor and steps will be taken."

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