A BUILDER who died after lying seriously ill on a trolley for 18 hours in Glangwili Hopstial had sepsis, an inquest has heard.
64-year-old Murray Vincent Quartermaine from Llandovery was not seen in ‘a timely fashion’ the narrative verdict found.
Coroner Mark Leyton said in Milford Haven Town Hall that his death on December 17, 2015, had originally been referred to him as a death from natural causes.
Following a campaign by his father, spearheaded by his daughter Josie Quatermaine, an inquest was held after they voiced their dissatisfaction with his treatment at the hospital.
Hywel Dda Health Board have apologised in a statement for the failings which were later identified in his care and treatment.
When Ms Quartermaine visited her father the day after he was admitted for pneumonia and hypoglycaemia, she found him ‘slumped on a trolley in an open bay in A&E’.
He died shortly afterwards. There was no post-mortem examination but the inquest demonstrated his death was linked to sepsis, caused by pneumonia and hypoglycaemia.
It could not be determined if his life would have been saved with treatment sooner.
In a statement, Ms Quartermaine said: “We have always felt the hospital failed to realise how seriously ill our dad was or to recognise he had sepsis and provide him with timely and appropriate treatment.
“We feel that these failures cost our dad the opportunity to have dignity at the end of his life and we hope that the health board will learn lessons from these events.”
Dr Phil Kloer, medical director and director of clinical strategy said: “We wish to reassure Mr Quartermaine’s family that we have taken this matter extremely seriously.
“We have undertaken significant work over the past three years to improve our compliance with expected standards in sepsis monitoring and treatment.”
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