Investigation and inquest
On 31/03/2015 I commenced an investigation into the death of John William Rogers. (DOB12.7.36 DOD 28.3.15) The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 08 March 2016. The conclusion of the inquest was one of Natural Causes, the Cause of Death being recorded as 1(a) Left Ventricular Failure (b) Myocardial Infarction (c) Occlusive Coronary Artery Atheroma
Circumstances of the death
The Deceased was admitted to Glan Clwyd Hospital on the 25th of March 2015 and in the early hours of the 28th of March was found collapsed on the floor near to his bed following a cardiac arrest. In the course of the subsequent resuscitation attempts the defibrillator was set on 2 joules rather than the required 150 joules yet although this error was identified by nursing staff after around 30/40 minutes they did not advise the crash team of this. The defibrillator was being controlled at the time of this error by a member of the nursing staff who was operating the machine on a manual setting for the first time and whose Advanced Life Support qualification (obtained more than four years before) had expired the previous month.
Coroner’s concerns
That the current systems in place within BCUHB are not sufficiently robust to ensure that their staff are appropriately qualified to undertake the work required of them and that their training and qualifications remain up to date.