Posted on 02/06/2010 4:09:03 PM PST by rdl6989
A patient who suffered a heart attack on a hospital ward died because clerical staff had mistakenly inserted a ‘Do Not Attempt Resuscitation’ form into his medical notes.
Peter Clarke was not treated by doctors after going into cardiac arrest as a nurse had spotted the form in his files and, even though it was blank and had not been filled in, told other ward staff he should not be revived.
The blunder emerged at an inquest into the incident at Derby Hospitals NHS Trust, where bosses revealed staff had been ‘routinely’ placing the forms alongside medical records before they had been correctly signed and witnessed by senior doctors.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
i wonder how much that is worth on the market.. any lawyers want to speculate.. ?
This is in the UK, people. It won’t happen that way here.
Under Obamacare, you won’t have the option, it’ll all be done for you.
Thanks rdl6989.
If I go to the hospital, I’m going to make sure there is a big “RESUSSITATE” written on my forehead, and a “RESUSSITATE” order in my file.
I can’t wait until Uncle Barack gets all my medical documents up online!
/s
Stories like these always make me think of Terri, too. I am still appalled by the fact that in the United States of American someone could be starved to death on the basis of a statement her husband (the father of two children by another woman) claims he heard her make.
And even that was after he testified under oath, in a court of law, that he needed to become a nurse to keep his end of an agreement with her, to take care of her for the rest of her natural life, which he expected to be another few decades. As soon as he got the money he claimed he needed to uphold that agreement, he changed his testimony.
My sympathy comes from the kind of things that I review all the time. People just make the dumbest mistakes and people are injured and die from them, but they are mistakes. Some of the things I’ve seen that I know will stay with someone forever just take all the wind out of my sails. When you read peoples statements sometimes you can hear “Oh my God, did I do something wrong?” or “Was it my fault?” and you wonder about the pain they’ll carry for the rest of their lives. Sometimes I have to talk to friends of Family members about it because it bothers me so much, and I’m just the person who’s READING about it.
I feel bad for the deceased and his Family as well but it doesn’t mean that the person who made the mistake is some apathetic monster.
That’s what I tell my friends all the time.
I don’t trust them either. They’re pushing for govt care too, but they call it something else. It’ll all end up the same.
He was 86 and lived in a nursing home.
I’m only a few years younger than he was and I would WANT a DNR.
He’s in a better place now.
Dreadful. RIP.
That’s government health care for you. I can’t help but wonder if the DNR forms are slipped in files to save the government money by not resuscitating elderly patients/chronically ill patients/patients that require more care.
I feel bad for this man’s family.
If you want one, you should get one.
He didn’t have one, but he got what you would have wanted, so it all worked out, didn’t it?
Now if you can just get rid of all the friends and relatives who think they must come see you in the hospital. When my MIL was dying everyone had to come and be in her room and be as loud as humanly possible. They also had to bring their friends and kids and the kids’ friends. Show some respect. It is not a social event.
Many people limit visitors to one or two at a time and use the nurses station or the front desk to run interferance. There is always the option ofsayingthat the doctor ordered only two vistors at a time.
Ooops.
Doesn’t work if you are an outlaw and the daughters are the ones calling everyone to come. Hubby’s nephew brought his under-12 kids up even after the front desk told him he couldn’t. He thought it was funny. Hospitals are not going to push too far unless people in other rooms start to complain. I refuse to tell people when I have to go in the hospital anymore. People in the South just think it is time to come visiting.
If you have no power the best thing to do is to pay respects and leave.
Sorry families are tough.
Well unfortunately both of my in-laws are dead. Great people who raised some selfish daughters but a great son. Hubby doesn’t have much to do with them since his parents are gone. He had his fill of them while he was trying to probate the estate according to daddy’s wishes. I love my family but I sure am glad they all live in a different state!
Nationalized health care, at your service...
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