A woman in the UK has died after a heart valve was put in upside down during surgery.
The Independent reports that Sheila Hynes suffered massive internal bleeding during what should have been a routine operation at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne. The 71-year-old grandmother and great-grandmother never came round from the operation – led by consultant surgeon Asif Raza Shah – after the mistake caused irreversible damage to her heart. A second operation to try to get her heart working failed and she died in intensive care a week later.
The report says Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Freeman, has admitted the error caused Hynes' death. Shah still works at the trust and an inquest into the death, which occurred in April 2015, has been scheduled for later this year.
The report says Hynes, a widow with seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, had undergone the surgery to try and improve her breathing, which was being hampered by inadequate blood flow. The family have begun legal action, partly motivated by a nurse who told them to leave “no stone unturned”.
The trust has admitted full breach of duty, and that the error which caused Hynes' death was the insertion of the heart valve the wrong way. A trust statement said: “Our thoughts are with Mrs Hynes' family at this difficult time and we would like again to offer our sincere condolences to them.
“Our staff always try to provide the best possible care to all of our patients. So we take the death of any of our patients very seriously.
“Sadly, when providing complex treatment there may be rare occasions when something unexpected happens, and in those circumstances we always carry out an in-depth investigation and we have done so in this case.’
It added: “As there is still an inquest pending into Mrs Hynes' death we cannot at this time comment in detail on her treatment. We can confirm that Mr Shah is an employee of the trust.”
The report says Shah, whose medical qualification is from the University of Punjab, has been registered to practise with the General Medical Council since 2012.
[link url="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/heart-valve-put-in-upside-down-newcastle-freeman-hospital-a7615156.html"]The Independent report[/link]