Jersey care service blasted for failings which caused woman to die prematurely
Jersey's care service has been criticised for wrongly giving an elderly patient end-of-life care, which meant she died prematurely.
Annick Sheehan passed away at St Saviour's Hospital in November 2018.
She was suffering from advanced dementia, chronic renal failure and blood cancer.
The 82-year-old was being prescribed the wrong treatment after the pain she felt was incorrectly attributed to the cancer, rather than a fractured rib.
The coroner ruled that her death was caused by the effects of sedatives and opiates - with health staff admitting there was a lack of collaboration over the care she received.
Relief Coroner Dr Martin Barrett said there had been a number of "missed opportunities", which included:
That Annick would not have been placed on the palliative care pathway and received increasing doses of opioids and sedatives if her pain had been ascribed to fracture of her ribs rather than myeloma.
If she had undergone a thorough assessment by the hospice team, it is possible that the cause of her pain would have been identified.
Had Mrs Sheehan not been suffering from dementia and delirium then clinicians would have been able to take a history and conduct physical examinations that could have identified the cause of her pain.
Medical Director of Health, Peter Armstrong, admitted that she could have lived hours or even days longer.
Health and Community Services expressed their "sincere condolences to Annick's family and friends" and said "the department will consider the findings off the inquest".