Altham man died of anaphylactic shock in hospital cubicle (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Altham man died of anaphylactic shock in hospital cubicle

8:00pm Thursday 18th June 2009 in

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A TEARFUL widow told an inquest that hospital staff stood by and ‘did nothing’ as her husband died after suffering an acute anaphylactic reaction.

Gloria Haworth said her husband had a swollen neck and was struggling to breathe but only received medical intervention after he had collapsed in a hospital cubicle.

She told how, after being taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital by ambulance, John Haworth was left in one waiting room and then another and seen by nurses who said they did not know what was wrong.

“By this time he was struggling to breathe,” said Mrs Haworth. “I went to the receptionist and explained the situation and she said take a seat and the doctor will see you when it is your turn.”

She said when her husband eventually got to see a doctor he started asking him questions. I said he couldn’t breathe and the doctor literally threw an oxygen mask at me and said “try this” before he walked out,” said Mrs Haworth.

When the doctor returned he started asking questions again and Mrs Haworth explained that her husband couldn’t answer because he couldn’t breathe and was suffering a panic attack.

“The doctor said he couldn’t examine John until he had calmed down and he left us again,” said Mrs Haworth.

“John couldn’t breathe and I ran out to get help.

“That was the last time I saw him alive.

“All the signs were there and nobody did anything about it.

“They did nothing.”

Mr Haworth, 58, of Ringwood Close, Altham West, was described as a fit and healthy man by his wife.

On March 5 this year, he and his wife had their evening meal at about 7.45pm, then watched TV.

Later he complained of a sore throat, and started vomiting. He was taken to accident and emergency by ambulance at 1.53 am and was pronounced dead at 3.21am.

Dr Immanuel Ajawan said after first seeing Mr Haworth he left the cubicle twice, once to get his stethoscope and the second time to get some adrenalin, standard treatment for anaphylactic shock.

Coroner Michael Singleton recorded a narrative verdict which reflected the sequence of events.

The cause of the reaction could not be found by a post mortem examination.

After the hearing, Lynn Wissett, deputy chief execu-tive at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, expressed condolences to the family and offered to meet them to talk through the case, adding: “I would also emphasise that the coroner stated that the type of anaphylactic reaction in this case was unusual and there was no criticism of the trust within the coroner’s narrat-ive verdict.

“It was made clear during the inquest into Mr Hawo-rth’s death that appropriate actions were taken by our doctors and nurses during the treatment of Mr Haworth.”

After the hearing, Mrs Haworth said she had been advised by her solicitor not to comment at this stage.