Wed, 01 Sep 2010
'Failings' over diabetic who died at Stafford Hospital
A systemic failure to provide adequate nursing facilities and staffing contributed to the death of a diabetic, an inquest jury has ruled.
Gillian Astbury, 66, was admitted to Stafford Hospital after a fall in 2007 but her blood sugar levels were not properly monitored, the inquest heard.
The failure to administer insulin to her amounted to a gross failure to provide basic care, jurors ruled.
'Stafford Hospital blamed for death
A diabetic patient at the scandal-hit Stafford Hospital died because of a “gross failure to provide basic care” – an inquest has found.
Gillian Astbury, aged 66, of Mavis Road, Hednesford, fell into a diabetic coma after she was admitted in April 2007.
A two-day inquest at Stafford’s County Buildings heard nurses had failed to give her insulin injections to treat her Type 1 diabetes.
The inquest was told some of the nursing staff were not informed that Mrs Astbury was diabetic and some said they were too busy to check the patient notes at the foot of her bed.
Injection error 'led to diabetic's death' at Stafford Hospital
DIABETIC Gillian Astbury fell into a fatal coma after nurses failed to administer her daily insulin injection, an inquest heard.
Th 66-year-old, who had been transferred to the orthopedic ward at Stafford Hospital on April 8, 2007, needed the medication every day at 8am.
But nurses did not realise she had not had the injection until she collapsed in the late evening.
Mrs Astbury was treated but did not recover and was pronounced dead on April 11. A post mortem showed the cause of death was ketoacidosis, a serious metabolic disorder caused by a lack of insulin.
