Great-grandmother was left screaming in agony while hospital doctor nearby ‘played on a computer’


  • Sarah Ann Gray, 81, was ‘screaming in pain’ and vomiting
  • Her bowel had perforated after surgery at Manchester Royal Infirmary
  • Begged for pain relief but was told nearby doctor ‘wasn’t on duty’
  • Mrs Gray died a few weeks later following complications from surgery

By
Anna Hodgekiss

08:10 EST, 18 April 2014

|

09:32 EST, 18 April 2014

A great-grandmother who died after surgery was left in agony for hours while a nearby doctor ‘played on a computer’, an inquest heard.

Sarah Ann Gray, 81, from Haughton Green, Tameside, was ‘screaming in pain ‘and vomiting at Manchester Royal Infirmary because her bowel perforated after an operation, despite a doctor being nearby.

Mrs Gray, known to friends as Sadie, became delirious, and pleaded with her children to get an ambulance to the ward.

Sarah Ann Gray, 81, was ‘screaming in pain’ and vomiting because her bowel perforated after an operation

Her son, Gary, 52, went to ask for pain relief but was told that the doctor in the corridor, who was ‘playing on a computer’, was ‘not on this morning’, her inquest was told.

Mr Gray said at the hearing: ‘She was screaming in pain, but we couldn’t get a doctor for two hours. There was a doctor playing on a computer in the corridor. He was sat right outside the room.’

After two hours of intense pain, Mrs Gray was finally given morphine. She died a few weeks later of complications from the surgery.

Her daughter, Susan Carter, told the inquest at Manchester town hall that she believed her mother ‘could be alive’ today if not for hospital errors.

Coroner Nigel Meadows, recording a narrative verdict, said that Mrs Gray died from multi-organ failure following complications after bowel surgery, but also noted a number of failures in nursing care.

Mr Meadows said: ‘I can see… a number of failures in nursing care. It can’t be said they were physically a cause of her death.

Mrs Gray died a few weeks later of complications from the surgery at Manchester Royal Infirmary (pictured)

‘The pathologist is saying the perforation of her bowel led to multi-organ failure.’ A 41-page hospital report showed lapses in nursing care in nutrition and hydration, pain management, infection prevention and record-keeping.

The inquest was told that the report showed the hospital had taken the issue seriously. After the inquest, Mrs Gray’s son Gary said: ‘It’s a catalogue of errors and only tells us what we already knew, but maybe the hospital will learn for future families.’

A hospital spokesman said: ‘Mrs Gray was given pain relief immediately after her procedure and a doctor was then called to provide a stronger painkiller and attended to Mrs Gray an hour-and-a-half later.

‘Another doctor who was present on the ward at the time was from a visiting speciality and not familiar with Mrs Gray.’

Comments (75)

what you think

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

Dari,

London, United Kingdom,

5 minutes ago

The doctor was not at work and probably had no idea who this patient was.

KATE notts.,

Nottingham, United Kingdom,

11 minutes ago

He isn,t my idea of a doctor.As a professional you get off your butt and find someone who can help.Also,if he wasn,t “on” that morning,who was????
The NHS is becoming untrustworthy,it needs a damn good overhaul.

Cydee,

Londom, Cyprus,

12 minutes ago

If this unfortunate lady’s bowel burst then she would have developed septicaemia. There was no excuse for the ‘visiting’ doctor not raising the alarm. I hope he can sleep at night.

icanhaveanopiniontoo,

London,

15 minutes ago

Oh god this is just dreadful, it’s awful

JJ,

London, United Kingdom,

16 minutes ago

Doctors are human, they work in shifts and need breaks. It is not safe for an off duty doctor to be attending a patient, they are in a rest period, which exist for very good reason.I’m sorry this lady was in pain, but that is not the responsibility of an off duty doctor. The doctor on duty should have been called.

wildy118,

urmston, United Kingdom,

16 minutes ago

Vote labour

baxter,

romford,

20 minutes ago

It says she was screaming in pain for two hours but then later is says it was one and a half hours. Well what was it exactly then? Half an hour in pain is a long time.They should have hooked her up to a drip of pain killer straight away.

Lisette Stevens,

Commonwealth of Dominica,

20 minutes ago

This is so really sad. I live in Dominica and had the same experience with a friend who was very sick in the hospital. I asked the nurse for help but she told me she was too busy. The nurse was also texting or doing something on her cell phone. I do not think cell phones should be allowed in hospitals at all, especially the nursing staff and doctors! I used to be a nurse and we really cared about our job, our patients were most important to us. I remember being so proud because not one patient that I nursed with the staff on our ward ever got a bed sore. WE never neglected our patients they came first. I am really terrified of getting ill and having to go into hospital. It is just pot luck whether you are looked after properly. I feel very sad for this family and their poor Mother having to undergo such terrible treatment.

juicingood,

Hereford, United Kingdom,

21 minutes ago

The trouble is hospitals are ‘rationalising’ everything they do. So there are now huge reductions in space and service. Now doctors hold the purse strings and are keen to ‘trouser’ as much of the money this Government now sees fit to give them to manage instead. So expect more taxpayer money to go into doctors coffers including for pension schemes. So expect the level of service from your local doctors to diminish too as they shy away from sending patients to hospitals in the first place.

Auntie Dibley,

London, United Kingdom,

21 minutes ago

I really fear getting ill.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Find out now