A nurse who led the ward that cared for a popular Nottinghamshire market trader before his death has admitted their were delays and gaps in his care. Kate McGarry, ward sister for E16 at Queen's Medical Centre, told an inquest of significant delays in carrying out health screenings - called Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) - of David Knight.
In a statement she said food plans were incomplete for the 62-year-old who ran The Market Cobbler at the Idlewells Indoor Market, in Sutton-in-Ashfield. However, the coroner said this may not have necessarily led to his death on July 19 last year.
Speaking at Nottingham Council House on Thursday, July 28, assistant coroner Elizabeth Didcock said: "They may not have contributed to David's death but they are some very concerning aspects. There are a number of issues that it raises."
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Mr Knight, of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, spent around five months in hospital in Nottingham before he died, having originally admitted himself to King's Mill Hospital in early 2021. He was suffering from vascular arterial disease and developed leg ulcers, the inquest heard.
After his condition worsened he had both legs amputated - his right in May and his left in June. However, despite the operations and brief improvements in his wellbeing, Mr Knight continued to deteriorate before passing away on July 19.
Dr Zaitoun, who carried out the post mortem, said Mr Knight had died as a result of a number of factors including a 40 per cent narrowing of his left heart chamber, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and ischemic heart disease. He told the inquest a "rare" fat embolism had developed on his lungs after surgery.
A fat embolism is a piece of intravascular fat that lodges within a blood vessel and causes a blockage of blood flow. Mr Knight's wife, Carol, daughter Nicky and her husband David Paylor, who were not able to visit for weeks due to Covid, raised a number of concerns about his nutrition and wellbeing whilst at Queens Medical Centre.
Ms McGarry admitted there were shortcomings in his care and said Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), had implemented improvements as a result. This includes learning days for staff and new quarterly audits of MUST assessments.
The inquest continues.
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