A heartbroken father claims his diabetic daughter died in
hospital because medics failed to give her an insulin injection for 30 hours.Katie Powell died aged 25 at Royal Bolton Hospital three
days after being admitted while 'screaming in pain' in September last year.
Suffering discomfort down the left side of her body, one
doctor said she was given more painkillers than he had ever given any patient
in his life before.
Her father Matthew, 47, says his daughter injected herself
with insulin when she arrived in A&E, but staff failed to give her any more
for the next 30 hours until her death.
Speaking at her inquest, which is due to conclude today, the
coroner said nobody in her medical team took responsibility for reviewing her
medicine, leaving her without the insulin she needed.
Her tragic death follows that of her mother, Sheridan, who
died of diabetes aged 29, when her daughter was just eight years old.
On the opening day of the inquest, the court heard evidence from doctors
about her period in the hospital's care.
Despite being admitted 'screaming in pain' on September 18
last year, doctors were unable to find the source of her agony. They gave her a 'huge amount of painkillers' which did
little to ease her discomfort, the inquest heard. Dr Damian Bates, a consultant at the hospital who cared for
Miss Powell, said: 'Katie had more painkillers than I have ever given anyone in
my entire life. We tried to manage her pain. 'She was obviously very distressed. What we were doing
wasn't really helping.'
They managed to calm Miss Powell, who usually
self-administers insulin about three times a day, and she was moved onto a ward
later that night.
She had self-administered some insulin after being admitted
to A&E, but although this had been included in notes, her medication was
not reviewed by doctors later that night, the inquest heard
Area coroner Alan Walsh said it was clear nobody took
responsibility for her diabetic needs, with members of the team 'leaving it for
someone else'.He told the inquest: 'What is becoming clear to me is that
nobody took responsibility for managing Katie during this period following her
transfer from A&E to the ward.
'Nobody took responsibility in the medical team to carry out
the medication review to ensure that insulin was being prescribed and
administered. HOW TYPE 1 DIABETES CAN KILL
Type 1 diabetes reduces life expectancy on average by 20
years. The condition is caused by the body attacking the cells of
the pancreas responsible for making insulin. Insulin helps the body break down glucose from food and turn
it into energy; without it, blood sugar levels become dangerously high, causing
damage to blood vessels.
Unlike type 2 diabetes, type 1 is characterised by insulin
dependence — once diagnosed, a patient must inject themselves daily for the
rest of their life. The problem is that many people don’t take their insulin as
they should, with potentially fatal consequences. 'People often think diabetes, type 1 or type 2, is not a
serious condition, says Dr Jeremy Allgrove, a paediatric endocrinologist at
Barts and the London NHS Trust. ‘But if you don’t look after yourself, it’s a killer.’
'Everybody seems to be leaving it to somebody else and in
the meantime Katie was not receiving any treatment.'
Zara Gall, a consultant at the hospital, said senior doctors
had been trying to assess Miss Powell.
But Mr Walsh said that they could have done more to inform
doctors after their shift.
Miss Powell died on September 20 after suffering from a
cardiac arrest and internal bleeding.
She had previously suffered from a cardiac arrest in March
2014 and was left in a coma, but made a recovery.
Her father said: 'When I arrived to the hospital, Katie was
in agony - she spent 11 hours in A&E.
'She was then put on a regular ward and wasn't seen by a
single doctor or nurse. She was known at the hospital as a diabetic but for
some reason they overlooked it.'
He continued: 'After that administration of insulin, I think
she was in so much pain she wouldn't have been able to administer anymore.
'We last saw Katie at 4:30 on Saturday afternoon because
they didn't even ring to tell us that she had been moved to a High Dependency
ward. 'She died at 11:39 that night.'
Her premature death echoes that of her mother, Mr Powell's
first wife Sheridan, who also died from diabetes 18 years ago at the age of 29
- and when her daughter was just eight.
Miss Powell showed no signs of diabetes as a child, so her
father said it 'didn't cross his mind' that she would suffer like her mother.
But after falling ill while on a family holiday to Benidorm
aged 16, she was diagnosed.
She also had the spinal condition caudal regression - which
meant she was born with two club feet.
Nobody
took responsibility in the medical team to carry out the medication review to
ensure that insulin was being prescribed and administered. Everybody seems to
be leaving it to somebody else
Alan
Walsh, of Bolton Coroners' Court
Mr Powell said that despite being in a wheelchair and
suffering diabetes, she was independent and lived life to the full. He said: 'She moved into her own bungalow in 2014 and she
had loads of friends she used to visit and her grandmother went to her house
everyday.
'She had a cousin with Downs Syndrome and she used to relate
really well to him. She always put others before herself.
'She was a really happy girl and she really wanted to better
herself. She was a bright girl and did very well at school.' The family still don't know what caused Miss Powell's
original pain but believe it was unrelated to her diabetes.'I still don't think they know what was wrong with Katie
initially,' he said.
'We think it was totally unrelated to her diabetes but they
completely overlooked her insulin.'
Miss Powell's family, including her step mother Sharon, half
brothers Nathan and Lewis, step brother Bradley and grandmother, Stevie Wild,
were all present at the inquest into her the death.
There, they hope they will find out why Miss Powell's
diabetic needs were overlooked.
Mr Powell said: 'We're still going through it all, it's been
really stressful.
'I've been really unwell with pains in my chest - I thought
I was having a heart attack at one point.
'It's been really difficult physically, mentally and
emotionally. It's been a really difficult time.'
A spokeswoman for Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, who run Royal
Bolton Hospital, said it would not comment until the inquest was over.
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