YORK Hospital and St James’ Hospital in Leeds have both apologised to the family of a local woman who died in York Hospital from complications following surgery in Leeds.

Carole McQuinn, 66, was rushed to York Hospital by ambulance on May 4 last year after collapsing at home.

She was treated for intra-abdominal sepsis – but was found ‘unresponsive’ in her hospital bed on the morning of May 7.

In February, she had undergone surgery at St James’ Hospital in Leeds to treat a malignant pancreatic tumour.

But following complications, including a fluid leak, she remained in hospital in Leeds for almost two months.

She was given an abdominal drain and intravenous antibiotics and was fed by a tube, before eventually being discharged from St James’ on April 20 last year.

It was just two weeks later that she had to be rushed into York Hospital by ambulance.

An inquest which ended on July 11 this year concluded that Mrs McQuinn had died of a pulmonary embolism – a ‘recognised complication of necessary surgery to treat pancreatic cancer’.

But in a sharply-worded 'prevention of future death report’ North Yorkshire and York Coroner Catherine Cundy was critical of both St James’ Hospital and York Hospital.

The coroner was most critical of St James’. She said Mrs McQuinn had been discharged from the hospital following a lengthy in-patient stay with no discharge note or medication – these were not supplied until the following day.

The hospital had kept no records of discussions with Mrs McQuinn or her daughter to discuss concerns about infection following her discharge.

And although a swab was taken of the infection during an outpatient visit by Mrs McQuinn to St James on April 22, the results of the swab test were not reviewed by a member of Mrs McQuinn’s medical team until May 3 – the day before he was rushed into York Hospital.

But the coroner was also critical of York Hospital.

No one in the medical team treating Mrs McQuinn in York got in touch with medics at St James’ who had treated her there, the coroner said.

And while a York doctor did verbally request to see a CT scan from Leeds, no record was made of this request.

The coroner ordered both hospitals to take urgent action to 'prevent future deaths' – and gave them until September 7 to respond.

In a statement to the Press, a spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals Trust, said: “The Trust would like to convey sincere condolences to Mrs McQuinn’s family.

“We recognise and share the concerns raised by the HM Coroner around record keeping and apologise that on this occasion the records were found to be lacking. We are reviewing our procedures.”

Dr Hamish McLure, Chief Medical Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, added: “I would like to offer our sincere condolences and apologise to Carole’s family. The care she received was not to the standard we expect.

“At the inquest we gave evidence about changes we have made to improve the care of pancreatic patients after discharge. These include a specific patient pathway for patients who have or have recently had abdominal drains in place, steps to ensure outpatient appointments are fixed before patients leave hospital, and clearer advice about how to access help and support when at home.

“We appreciate that the coroner wishes for us to take further steps. We will be setting out our action plan and implementation timetable to meet the coroner’s deadline.”