Grandmother from Rawtenstall died 'after nurses read wrong DNR form', says family

A family say they watched their "much-loved mum" die in hospital after her medical team looked at the wrong patient's notes and found a "do not resuscitate" form.

Pat Dawson was rushed to the Royal Blackburn Hospital from her home in Rawtenstall with a suspected stomach blockage around 5pm on 19 September 2023.

Less than five hours later, the 73-year-old would be dead.

Pat's daughter-in-law, Paula Dawson, said: "She went into cardiac arrest, the hospital staff checked 'her 'records' and said she was DNR so she was left to die.

"Five minutes later the staff realised the wrong records had been checked and she wasn't DNR. If she had been resuscitated who will ever know if she would have survived."

An investigation by the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Blackburn Hospital, found that nurses may have mistakenly checked the wrong patient's records before halting CPR.

An inquest into Pat's death is due to take place on Monday, 15 April.

Paula, who lives with Pat's son John in Whitewell Bottom in Rossendale, said alarm bells had rung when her husband had called her from the hospital to tell her about the DNR form.She said: "I said to him 'no she didn't have one, she would have told us, but also, she'd never been ill before, or in hospital, so she couldn't have had one."About 20 minutes after Pat died a senior nurse went to see John in the family room and said 'there's been a mix-up'."

After Pat had died, John was sat in the room with her when, on three separate occasions, staff came into the room and did not realise she had passed away.

Paula said: "My husband was in the room with her, a junior doctor entered the room asked what had brought them to A&E that day.

"He looked down at the bed and asked John if she always looked like that.

"John was shocked at the comment and explained she had passed away. He couldn't believe they didn't know."We then also had another two occasions where people entered the room, one lady asking for some leads to use and one who asked if they could take Pat's blood pressure.

"I told them they could try but it wouldn't do much good."

While Paula and John insist they are not embarking on a "witch hunt" against any individual employee, they have raised concerns about staffing within the hospital.

Paul said: "A&E departments are very chaotic to the point mistakes are being made and people are dying".A spokesperson for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said: "There are no words that will lessen the pain felt by Mrs Dawson's family following her death."We offer our sincere condolences and would be happy to talk to them about their concerns.

"However, it would be inappropriate to make any other public comment until the inquest is concluded."

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