An NHS hospital has paid £130,000 to a Port Talbot family whose mother died after doctors mistook her cardiac arrest for a pinched nerve.
Mother-of-two Jade Ellis rushed to A&E after calling NHS 111 when she began experiencing pain in her left arm and severe chest pains in March 2020.
But despite displaying symptoms consistent with acute heart problems, the 36-year-old was simply diagnosed with a “trapped nerve” and prescribed paracetamol, court documents show.
Doctors failed to perform blood tests that could have shown signs he had heart problems, his family says.
Instead, she was sent home and later suffered a fatal heart attack.
Mother-of-two Jade Ellis (pictured) went to A&E after calling NHS 111 when she began experiencing pain in her left arm and severe chest pains in March 2020. But despite displaying symptoms consistent with acute heart problems, the 36-year-old was simply diagnosed with a “trapped nerve” and prescribed paracetamol, court documents show.
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Local Health Board has now admitted liability for breach of duty and causation.
Bosses apologised for the “mistakes” and admitted Ms Ellis would not have been discharged and would likely have survived if tests had been carried out.
Recalling the harrowing experience, Ms Ellis’s mother, Sandra Bartlett, a retired cook, said her daughter had her life “robbed of her by one mistake”.
The 61-year-old added: ‘The doctor had not done a blood test on her; if he had, she would have been saved.
‘We are a family that has been broken and shattered into a thousand pieces.
“She trusted the doctor when he told her, ‘Go home, you have a pinched nerve.’ She trusted him and went home and died.”
Mrs. Ellis, who worked for the travel company Tui, initially gave him pain in his arm Working in front of a computer all day.
But the next day he also started feeling severe chest pain around 11pm after dinner.
While some warning signs are easy to spot, such as severe chest pain, others are more vague and difficult to pinpoint.
Ms Bartlett said Jade thought she simply had indigestion, however when the pain worsened she called 111 who advised her to call an ambulance.
Upon arrival at the At 1am at Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, doctors took his blood pressure and performed an ECG, a test that records the electrical activity of the heart.
However, within hours she was told to take paracetamol and go home, Ms Bartlett said. The results of both tests were not shared with the family.
Now, in a letter admitting liability, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board said: ‘The Health Board accepts that in light of Ms Ellis’ presentation and despite her young age, she presented features consistent with a possible diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome.
‘The attribution of her symptoms to a musculoskeletal condition was not appropriate due to lack of investigations.’
He also said no tests were performed for troponin, a heart protein that can be detected in the blood after heart problems.
Had that been the case, “Ms. Ellis would not have been discharged from the hospital at the time of her cardiac arrest,” he added.
‘The Board of Health accepts that, on the basis of a preponderance of probabilities, if Ms Ellis had developed chest pain and/or cardiac arrest in hospital, she would have survived.’
At 3:15 am, just two hours after going to the emergency room, his pain began to worsen, causing a heart attack.
According to her family, doctors did not perform any tests that could have shown signs of heart problems. Instead, she was sent home and later suffered a fatal heart attack. Pictured: Jade Ellis (left) with her mother Sandra Bartlett (right)
Paramedics were called again and arrived at 3.55am, but she was pronounced dead at home at 5am.
Ms Bartlett said: “The domino effect of what one person did not do has caused hell for our family. Her job and her children were her life.
‘She didn’t go out on weekends or anything, that was the kind of mother she was, even when the children were older.
‘She loved coming home from work, putting on her pyjamas and making tea with the children.
“It’s not enough to say that we were shaken to explain it, we were simply shattered.”
His family, including his children Deanna, 20, and Brando, 23, say they received the £130,000 compensation in July.
Ms Bartlett added: “Money doesn’t make it any better, but if they can have that part of their life stress-free, that’s something.”
‘I just want them to be able to go on vacation and not worry about bills.
“Jade will never come back and those children will never have their mother again.”
A spokesman for Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board also said: ‘We extend our sincere condolences to Jade’s family as they continue to come to terms with her death.
“As a health board, we have apologised to Jade’s family for instances where her care fell short of the high standards we expect for all our patients, and we have ensured that the learning from this case has been used to improve care in the future.”
Earlier this year, alarming data revealed that premature deaths from cardiovascular problems, such as heart attacks and strokes, had reached their highest level in more than a decade.
MailOnline has previously highlighted how the number of young people, under 40, in England being treated for heart attacks by the NHS is increasing.
Cases of heart attacks, heart failure and strokes among those under 75 had been declining since the 1960s thanks to falling smoking rates, advanced surgical techniques and advances such as stents and statins.
But rising obesity rates and its catalogue of associated health problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, are now thought to be one of the main contributing factors.
Slow ambulance response times to Category 2 calls in England (which include suspected heart attacks and strokes) have also been blamed, as have long waits for tests and treatment.
Despite claims by anti-vaxxers, cardiologists say fears that Covid vaccines may have fuelled a rise in heart problems are far from true.