CLOSER NEWS REPORT

WHY OUR A&E DEPARTMENTS ARE IN ACRITICAL CONDITION

A recent report estimated that more than 250 patients a week died last year because of hospital delays. Closer speaks to one woman who suffered tragedy…

Next week marks the first anniversary of Tracey Farndon’s death. For her daughter, Jess Sulmina, the grief and pain is as raw as ever, compounded by the fact that she knows it could have been avoided.

In the early hours of the morning of 25 April 2023, 56-year-old Tracey, a fit and healthy mum of three, went to her local A&E after three days of vomiting, fatigue, diarrhoea and agonising pain in her back and legs. Tragically, nine hours later she was dead after staff failed to diagnose she was suffering from sepsis due to basic checks not happening while she was in the emergency ward.

UNDERSTAFFED

Jess, 31, lives in Solihull with her husband, Klodjan, and their two children, Rose, two, and Charlie, eight months. She says, “My mum was always smiling and laughing, she had a love for life and an abundance of energy. My daughter adored her, but sadly Charlie never met her, I was seven months pregnant when she died. My mum was a fighter, but she wasn’t given a chance to fight.”

An inquest into Tracey’s death earlier this month heard that the A&E department was particularly busy that night and understaffed. Basic tests weren’t sufficiently conducted nor observations taken – if they had been, her case might have been escalated, further tests done and sepsis detected and treated. Instead, eight hours after her arrival she went into cardiac arrest and died with her partner, Tom, and Jess by her side.

FAILURE

Jess, who runs a construction company with Klodjan, says, “What my mother went through in the final hours of her life was truly horrendous and I’m completely heartbroken about the lack of care she experienced when she needed it most. I’m worried about what happens if my children get sick and need to go to hospital – will they be treated in time?”

Tragically, Jess’ story is just the tip of the iceberg. Reports out this month revealed that more than 250 patients die unnecessarily each week in the UK due to long waits in A&E departments. An investigation also showed that 106 out of 197 A&E units were either rated “inadequate” or “requiring improvement”.

Some of the other stories are equally shocking. Tamara Davis, 31, was admitted to Brighton’s Royal Sussex County hospital in December 2022 with a chest infection after coughing up blood. She was treated in a corridor for 12 hours before she was finally put on a ventilator, but died from sepsis and multiple organ failure.

In October 2022, 77-year-old Sylvia Thomas had been left on a trolley for 24 hours in A&E before she fell off it and suffered a heart attack shortly afterwards. Two weeks later, she was dead, and was buried in the outfit she’d bought