Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2016

Colin Garth

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2016-0372, written 20 Oct 2016. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report20 Oct 2016
Reference2016-0372
DeceasedColin Garth
CoronerJohn Pollard
Coroner areaManchester (West)
CategoryHospital Death (Clinical Procedures and medical management) related deaths
Organisation namedBolton NHS Foundation Trust
Sourcejudiciary.uk record · original PDF
Responses published1

The report

Text recovered by OCR from a scanned PDF. OCR is imperfect: check anything you rely on against the source PDF. Reproduced verbatim, including the scan's own layout.

REGULATION 28: REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS (1)

NOTE: This form is to be used after an inquest.

REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS
THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO:

Dr Jackie Bene,
CEO Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, Minerva Road, Farnworth, Bolton BL4 OJR

CORONER

I am John Pollard Assistant Coroner, for the Coroner Area of Manchester West
CORONER'S LEGAL POWERS

I make this report under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice

Act 2009 and regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations
2013.

INVESTIGATION and INQUEST

On the 23" June 2016 I commenced an investigation into the death of Colin
Garth, born on the 1% May 1963.

The investigation concluded at the end of the Inquest on the 20" October 2016.

The Medical Cause of Death was:

1a Sepsis

1b Hickman Line Infection and Pneumonia

1c Disseminated Colonic carcinoma

2. Ischaemic Heart Disease

The conclusion of the Inquest was Misadventure.

CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH

On the 5" May 2016 the deceased was diagnosed with colon cancer. He was
operated on, on the following day and on the 10" May a Hickman line was
inserted. He was discharged from hospital knowing that he was terminally ill. He

was readmitted on the 18" June and he died on the 19" June at the Royal
Bolton Hospital.

CORONER’S CONCERNS
The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows:

A. During the course of the evidence I was told that when patients are
discharged from the hospital with a Hickman or central line in situ, they
are not furnished with any guidance booklet or sheet as to how the said
line should be monitored, cleaned, flushed etc. It is clearly desirable that
they should be as well informed as passible and I therefore consider that
the provision of such written advice should be considered.

B. Whilst I was satisfied that the Trust does have a clear Policy as to the
provision of and use of such lines, there was clearly a lack of knowledge
of this policy even amongst quite senior staff members. There should be
consideration given to a proper continuous programme of information
and education for ALL staff.

C. In evidence I was told that at one point the syringe driver (or the

extension from it) became blocked and ceased to deliver the fluid as

intended by the doctors. This is a fault which can happen in the best of
all worlds. What concerned me greatly, however, was that the machine

did not sound any bleep or alarm to indicate that it was faulty and

having cleared the blockage, the nurse then reconnected the same

machine rather than referring it for repair/replacement. There was a

very clear need for education of the staff as to how important it is to

ensure that all machines are operating properly and safely.

ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN

In my opinion urgent action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I
believe you and/or your organisation have the power to take such action.

YOUR RESPONSE

You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this
report, namely by the 15" December 2016. I, the coroner, may extend the
period.

Your response must contain details of action taken or proposed to be taken,
setting out the timetable for action. Otherwise you must explain why no action
is proposed.

COPIES and PUBLICATION

I have sent a copy of my report to the Chief Coroner and to the following
Interested Persons:

(EEE © cartr’s wite on behalf of the family

I am also under a duty to send the Chief Coroner a copy of your response.

The Chief Coroner may publish either or both in a complete or redacted or
form. He may send a copy of this report to any person who he

believes may find it useful or of interest. You may make representations to me,
the coroner, at the time of your response, about the release or the publication
of your response by the Chief Coroner.

 lrveactesois
20° October 2016

Signed

()
De —~

Johr

Responses

1 response published against this report on judiciary.uk. A response is a body's written reply to the coroner's concerns; publication is at the discretion of the Chief Coroner's office, so an absent response does not mean nobody replied.

Response from Bolton NHS Trust (PDF)
RECEIVED
20 DEC 2016

aaaassanme 2 Sa

Telephone: INHS'
E-mail: Bo lton

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust

Our Ref: JB/AW/1.002065 Minerva Road
Your ref: JP/YD/2111-2016 Farnworth
Bolton

BL4 OJR

www. boltonft.nhs.uk

14 December 2016

Mr John $ Pollard
Assistant Coroner
Manchester West
Paderborn House
Howell Croft North
Bolton

BL1 1QY

Dear Mr Pollard

Colin Garth — Deceased
Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths

1 am writing in response to your Regulation 28 Report issued following the Inquest into the
death of Colin Garth which concluded on 20 October 2016. May | take this opportunity to
extend my sincere condolences to the family of Mr Garth for their loss.

| am now in a position to respond to your concerns as outlined in Section 5 of your report as
follows:

Section 5 (A)

| am sorry to learn that during the course of establishing how Mr Garth came about his death
you heard evidence that when patients with a Hickman or other central line in situ are
discharged from hospital they are not provided with any guidance booklet or information
sheet as to how the aforementioned line should be looked after. | would like to assure you
that all our patients with central lines in situ, who are looked after by the oncology and
haematology teams are provided with an information leaflet created by Macmillan Cancer
Support. This provides an explanation as to what the line is, how to care for it in addition to
identifying any potential problems with the line. However, as this leaflet contains the
Macmillan logo, it is not appropriate to provide the same leaflet to our patients who have
central lines in situ but are not oncology or haematology patients. As such, a new generic
leaflet is being developed, based on the Macmillan leaflet and | expect this will be available
to all patients with central lines following completion of the Trust’s internal approval process
by the end February 2017.

Section 5 (B)

! was disappointed to learn that despite the Trust having a clear Policy relating to the use of
central lines, and in particular where a line infection is suspected, that staff demonstrated a
lack of knowledge around this. As a result of this the Governance Leads and Practice
Educators for each of the Divisions within the Trust are embarking on a programme of
continuous education for all clinical staff which will include raising the awareness of the
Policy in addition to the overall management of central lines.

As part of this process, the Deputy Director of Infection Control is currently reviewing the
Policy in order to provide further clarity on the management of line infections. The amended
Policy is due to be approved at the next Infection Control Committee in January 2017.

Section 5 (C)

Again, | was extremely disappointed to hear that a member of staff continued to use a piece
of medical equipment when a fault should have been identified which should have resulted in
the equipment being taken out of use immediately. The Trust has a very clear Medical
Devices and Equipment Policy which describes in detail what action staff should take when
using medical devices. In particular, Section 9(1) describes the responsibility of staff to
report faults relating to medical devices via the Trust incident reporting process and
furthermore, Section 10 (1) deals with the responsibilities of the user of the medical
equipment to ensure that it has been checked prior to use and damaged equipment is not
used for patient care.

| would like to assure you that we are currently engaged in a Trust wide programme of
training relating to management of medical equipment which incorporates actions we expect
staff to take when equipment is faulty or there is a suspicion of a fault. The Divisional
Governance Leads report progress on this training on a quarterly basis to the Clinical
Governance and Quality Committee who will retain overall scrutiny on progress.

| hope that my response detailed above has provided you with assurance that the Trust has
the necessary systems and processes in place to ensure that all members of staff continue
to be aware of the management of central lines in addition to the appropriate management of
medical equipment.

Please do not hesitate to contact me in the event you require any further assistance.

Yours sincerely

fila

Dr Jackie Bene
Chief Executive

N

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