West Suffolk Hospital: Wrong drip contributed to woman's death

Administering the wrong drip to a hospital patient contributed to her death, an inquest concluded.

Susan Warby, 57, was admitted to West Suffolk Hospital in July 2018 with a perforated bowel, but was given a dextrose drip instead of a saline one.

She died of multi-organ failure and other complications.

Coroner Nigel Parsley said her death was "contributed to by unnecessary insulin treatment" and his report would contain his concerns about labelling.

Mrs Warby, from Bury St Edmunds, was admitted to hospital on 26 July and died there on 30 August.

The inquest heard that after bowel surgery, the contents of the drip were not checked properly and the dextrose remained in place for 36 hours.

Medical teams had noticed a rise in blood sugar levels, but gave her insulin to lower them rather than check the drip.

Delivering a narrative conclusion, Mr Parsley said: "Susan Warby died as the result of the progression of a naturally occurring illness [bowel perforation], contributed to by unnecessary insulin treatment, caused by erroneous blood test results.

"This, in combination with her other co-morbidities reduced her physiological reserves to fight her naturally occurring illness."

Other contributing factors included the perforated bowel, faecal peritonitis, septicaemia and pneumonia, the inquest heard.

Earlier this year, Susan's widower Jon Warby said he was "knocked sideways" when an anonymous letter from a whistleblower highlighted errors in his wife's care.

Speaking after the inquest, he said the hospital trust had since "made a number of changes which I am pleased about".

A West Suffolk Hospital spokesman said "aspects of her care could and should have been better and for this we apologise", adding that "we will review the coroner's findings in detail".

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