Pregnant mother, 28, and unborn baby died three days after doctors TWICE misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancy as a stomach bug

Rebecca Ben-Nejma went to AE at Maidstone Hospital with stomach pain
Staff suspected she had gastroenteritis and sent her home with painkillers
A doctor did suggest she be scanned to rule out an ectopic pregnancy, but the hospitalâ€™s scanning department was closed for the weekend
Mrs Ben-Nejma returned to AE the following day with severe pain but was still diagnosed with gastroenteritis and sent her home with painkillers
The next day she suffered a heart attack and was rushed to hospital
She died on December 20, her daughter Charlotteâ€™s 13th birthday

By
Rachel Reilly

PUBLISHED:

10:46 EST, 19 July 2013

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UPDATED:

11:09 EST, 19 July 2013

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A pregnant mother died just three days after being sent home from a hospital where staff twice misdiagnosed the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy for a stomach bug.

One doctor did suspect she might be suffering with the condition, that causes an embryo to implant outside the uterus, but was unable to confirm a diagnosis because the hospitalâ€™s specialist scanning service was closed for the weekend.

The family of Becky Ben-Nejma, 28, were this week given an undisclosed six-figure compensation payout after the hospital trust admitted she was misdiagnosed and that their failings contributed to her death.

The family of Becky Ben-Nejma were this week given an undisclosed six-figure compensation payout after a hospital trust admitted she was misdiagnosed and their failings contributed to her death

Mrs Ben-Nejma, who already had two children, visited Maidstone Hospitalâ€™s AE department with stomach pains late on a Friday afternoon.

Medical staff suspected she had gastroenteritis and sent her home with painkillers.

One doctor â€“ it later transpired â€“ suggested she should be scanned for any possible complications with her pregnancy, suspecting she may have an ectopic pregnancy.

But the hospitalâ€™s specialist scanning department was closed for the weekend so he asked Mrs Ben-Nejma to return on the Monday for a scan.

The next day Becky complained she was in even more pain so she returned to the Kent hospital.

Incredibly, the AE registrar still diagnosed it as gastroenteritis and simply sent her home with stronger painkillers.

Mrs Ben-Nejma had only discovered a few days earlier that she was seven-weeks pregnant.

The following morning, at around 7.30am, she collapsed at home into the arms of her then 12-year-old daughter Charlotte, and suffered a heart attack.

Ms Ben-Nejma only found out she was seven-weeks pregnant a few days before she died. She collapsed at home into the arms of her then 13-year-old daughter Charlotte, and suffered a heart attack

Paramedics worked frantically to revive her and she was rushed into hospital by air ambulance.

She then suffered a second cardiac arrest while undergoing an emergency operation to remove her fallopian tubes.

Mrs Ben-Nejma was kept on life support, before the agonising decision was made to switch it off and she died on December 20, 2010, her daughter Charlotteâ€™s 13th birthday.

Tests revealed Becky had experienced an ectopic pregnancy.

Details of Mrs Ben-Nejmaâ€™s death emerged this week after it was revealed her family had been given a compensation payout by Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

Medical director Dr Paul Sigston said: â€˜The trust sincerely and unreservedly apologises for the failings that contributed to death of Mrs Ben-Nejma.

â€˜In order to ensure that such failings do not happen again the trust has introduced a range of measures including strengthening the emergency gynaecology service, which is now centralised at Tunbridge Wells Hospital, and as a result of which patients now have better access to senior staff, diagnostic equipment and treatment of emergency situations.â€™

He said scanning equipment and senior medical staff in women and childrenâ€™s services were now available 24 hours a day including at weekends at Tunbridge Wells Hospital, which only opened about 18 months ago.

Becky, from Maidstone, was married to Walid and had two children, Charlotte, now 15, and Bailey, four.

John Kyriacou, of Penningtons Solicitors, London, who represented Beckyâ€™s family, said: â€˜This is a devastating case for everyone involved. The NHS needs to be as effective during the weekend as it is during the week.â€™

Studies have suggested that death rates at hospitals in England can be up to 25 per cent higher at weekends, and NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh has said he would like hospitals to function as effectively at weekends as during the week.