Medical staff at a Dublin hospital failed to pick up a classic symptom of a life-threatening condition which killed a woman who was “never sick a day in her life” less than 24 hours after she had been admitted with severe chest pains, an inquest has heard.
Deborah Duffy, 50, a married mother of two from Delmere, Enfield, Co Meath, died at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown on February 4, 2018 from a hypovolemic shock due to an aortic dissection – where there is a tear in the body’s main artery. An inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Monday heard that Ms Duffy was only seen by junior doctors during her stay in the hospital and her condition was not referred to any registrar or consultant.
It also heard evidence that test results showing “critical” levels of a protein in the blood which signifies damage to the heart in the patient which were notified to a nurse were not elevated further. Counsel for Ms Duffy’s family, Sara Antoniotti SC, said critical decisions about a difficult case were being made by “very junior doctors.” Ms Antoniotti observed that the only way of diagnosing an aortic dissection was by carrying out a CT scan but none had been done.
