Tragic pneumonia mum given paracetamol

Jan 8 2009 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

A TYNESIDE mother died of pneumonia – just two days after she was released from hospital with a prescription of painkillers.

Lisa Knox, 30, of Walker, Newcastle, died three days after she started suffering from breathing difficulties on December 27.

Her fiance, Robbie Hudspith, 32, parents Carol, 52, and Joe, 59, and brother, Mark, 33, believe the mother would still be here today if doctors and paramedics had spotted her condition sooner.

The family, also of Walker, Newcastle, are furious that medics at Newcastle General Hospital sent Lisa, who had an 11-year-old son named Robert, home with a packet of painkillers.

They believe that if Lisa had been given a chest X-ray and blood tests, her pneumonia could have been diagnosed and treated before it took over her body and caused her organs to fail.

Robbie said: “Maybe if they had X-rayed her chest she would still be here today. She was fit and healthy and might have been able to fight it if she was in hospital.

“We went to Wigan on Boxing Day and we had a really good day. But when we got back to St James’s Park on the coach that night she said she didn’t feel very well.”

Lisa was taken to hospital but told she probably had a viral infection and was sent home with a packet of paracetamol tablets.

Robbie said: “I’m not a doctor but even I thought they should have X-rayed her chest. But you trust what the doctors are telling you.”

A senior Accident and Emergency (A&E) consultant at Newcastle Hospital NHS Trust said: “When this lady presented at A&E on the Saturday, the symptoms were of a viral chest infection no more complicated than so many other people attending.

“There was no good reason to undergo intensive tests or be admitted to hospital.

“However, advice subsequently was given to promptly return to hospital if there was worsening respiratory distress.”