A coroner has issued a warning about a hospital’s “insufficient” preparations for strikes by junior doctors after a 71-year-old man died during an industrial strike.
Coroner Robert Cohen said “negligence” contributed to the death of pensioner Daphne Austin after learning she was one of 25 patients being treated by a single consultant at an NHS hospital because her colleagues were on strike.
Ms Austin was first admitted to Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle, in May last year after suffering a stroke and it later became apparent she had suffered kidney damage.
During her stay, the pensioner became dehydrated, her glucose levels were poorly controlled and there was a delay in carrying out blood tests due to the strikes, an investigation found.
On one particular day, Ms. Austin received no “medical assistance” because hundreds of junior doctors had walked out in a dispute over pay, Cohen said.
Daphne Austin, 71, was first admitted to Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle, in May last year after suffering a stroke and it later became apparent she had suffered kidney damage.
Over time, Ms Austin’s condition “deteriorated” and she developed life-threatening sepsis.
Despite treatment, Mrs. Austin died from her condition the following day.
Now a coroner has issued a warning about “insufficient” capacity to ensure “safe levels of cover” during the strike.
Ms Austin attended Cumberland Infirmary on May 22 last year after suffering a stroke.
It was heard that during one stay, the diabetic’s glucose levels were “poorly controlled” and her fluid balance was not monitored in an “effective manner”, leading to her becoming dehydrated.
About three weeks after admission, it became apparent that Ms. Austin had suffered acute kidney injury.
Despite this finding, no blood tests were carried out on the pensioner for the next two days.
Mr Cohen said: “It is very likely that this was due to a strike by junior doctors.”
On June 17, almost four weeks after his admission, he developed sepsis.
The coroner said: ‘Negligence, namely ineffective monitoring of Ms Austin’s fluid balance and the failure to carry out blood tests on 15 or 16 June 2023, contributed to Ms Austin’s death.’
Junior doctors in north and west Cumbria went on strike from Wednesday 14 June to Saturday 17 June last year over a pay dispute.
The young professionals were members of the British Medical Association (BMA) union and took part in the industrial action after demanding a pay rise.
During the inquest into Ms Austin’s death, the coroner heard evidence from one of the Trust’s consultants, who said that on the day of the strike she had to “look after nearly 25 patients”.
For this reason, Mrs Austin “received no medical assistance” on June 14 due to the strike by young doctors.
Mr Cohen said another consultant gave evidence that, despite being listed as one of the consultants covering the unit (in the contingency planning evidence), he was “probably dealing with other tasks that day”.
“In these circumstances, I am concerned that planning aimed at ensuring safe levels of cover during periods of industrial action was insufficient to meet the need and that this gave rise to a risk of future deaths,” he said.
Mr Cohen has sent the report on preventing future deaths to North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust, the Secretary of State for Health and the British Medical Association, who have 56 days to respond.
The coroner ruled urosepsis and acute kidney injury as the medical cause of death and the inquest’s conclusion was narrative.