A CORONER has expressed concern after no doctor was found to attend to a grandmother-of-16 who was deteriorating after being involved in a road crash involving her mobility scooter.

Dorothy Kenny, 71, was a patient in an orthopaedic ward at the Royal Preston Hospital after her scooter was struck by a Fiat Panda in Manchester Road in February last year, Burnley Coroner’s Court was told.

MORE TOP STORIES:

But the family of the mother-of-11, of Gainsborough Avenue, was dismayed that nurses had twice attempted to ‘bleep’ an on-call doctor without success before she succumbed to a heart arrythmia, an inquest heard.

East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor said he did not believe that a medical intervention would necessarily have prevented the death of Mrs Kenny, who managed to study for A levels and two degrees while raising her family, But Mr Taylor, who recorded a narrative verdict, said: “I do agree with the family when I say that I find it concerning that no doctor has been able to attend to Mrs Kenny after 11pm.

“I am sure that the family would have been most reassured to have a doctor say to them, ‘I was there at 11.05pm on February 24 and I am sorry there was nothing that we could do’, but that was not to be.”

The coroner said Mrs Kenny was a ‘determined and independent lady’ who still went to the shops on her mobility scooter - but on February 21 she emerged from between parked cars and was struck by a Fiat car driven by John O’Rourke.

Police accident investigator Pc Richard Roberts said that the car had been travelling at no more than 23mph or 30mph, depending on where Mrs Kenny’s scooter had left the pavement to cross the road.

Mrs Kenny was treated at the scene and eventually admitted to the Preston hospital with a broken leg and at least three broken ribs. But she refused to undergo an operation on her leg and was placed in a plaster cast, the inquest heard.

And on February 24 nurses became concerned when observations concluded that her condition was becoming more serious and she required oxygen. But Mrs Kenny refused to wear a face mask or have a nasal canula fitted, the hearing was told.

Her family expressed a number of concerns regarding her treatment on the orthopaedic ward, including the fact that no-one from the hospital contacted her sons or daughters when their mother became unco-operative.

The inquest heard that staff nurse Hayley Talbot and later nurse practitioner Sharon Mellis had attempted to encourage Mrs Kenny to accept treatment but she told them she wanted to be left alone.

The nurse practitioner became so concerned that she twice tried to ‘bleep’ Dr Edward Jeans (corr) the on-call registrar covering two orthopaedic wards and the hospital’s accident and emergency department that night.

Dr Jeans said that he received the second call at around 1am, on February 25, while he was attending to another patient in the A&E department and he informed the nurse practitioner that he would visit the ward next.

But the inquest heard that after Nurse Talbot found Mrs Kenny unresponsive at 1.20am, a crash team was alerted and resuscitation had to be attempted. But Mrs Kenny was pronounced dead 22 minutes later.

Hospital consultant Dr George McLauchlan said it appeared that Mrs Kenny, who suffered from angina and osteo-arthritis, may have suffered a heart arrythmia, ultimately leading to her death.

Chris Alderson, counsel acting on behalf of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, questioning a number of nursing witnesses, established that their professional duties would not allow them to administer treatment against Mrs Kenny’s wishes, as she had undergone a mental health asssessment confirming she was of sound mind.

The coroner’s narrative verdict read: “While bed-bound following a road traffic collision, Dorothy Kenny died at the Royal Preston Hospital on February 25 from a heart arrythmia.”