'Lessons have been learned '- Hospital bosses apologises after death of Sunderland woman who contracted flesh-eating bug

Karen Thompson, 59, died at Sunderland Royal Hospital on January 21, 2019, after becoming ill with the soft tissue infection called Necrotising Fasciitis.

The rare but serious bacterial infection that affects the tissue beneath the skin and surrounding muscles and organs.

An inquest into her death at Sunderland Civic Centre, led by Assistant Coroner Karin Welsh, heard that Karen had died from multi-organ failure due to Necrotising Fasciitis and the contributing condition of her spina bifida.

The coroner ruled that Karen died of natural causes.

The inquest heard how Karen had been receiving daily visits from the District Nursing Team of the Sunderland and South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, who had been helping her with pressure sores since around January 7, 2019.

However Karen’s overall condition started to deteriorate, and she began to experience flu-like symptoms.

A GP home visit indicated that Karen could have sepsis and she was taken by ambulance to Sunderland Royal Hospital on January 17.

Om admission she had been prescribed antibiotics medics believed to be suitable for her condition and the inquest was told medics had found it difficult to reach the diagnosis of Necrotising Fasciitis.

The inquest heard how Karen’s spina bifida condition meant that she had no feeling from the waist down which meant that she was likely not to have felt the extreme pain that is one of the key symptoms of Necrotising Fasciitis.

During the inquest the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust accepted that there should have been a regular wound review and that the wrong pathway was followed once Karen was in hospital and surgery should have been considered on admission.

Apologising to the family, the Trust said that ‘lessons have been learned’ following Karen’s tragic death.

Dr Shaz Wahid, Medical Director at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our sincere apologies and condolences go out to Karen’s family at this difficult time.

“We accept that tragically there were missed opportunities to consider early surgical intervention for this rare severe skin infection and we have identified and will demonstrate that effective lessons have been learned around treatment of such patients.

“We have developed detailed guidance for our staff, provided training and raised awareness across the organisation with regards this type of severe skin infection.”

Paying tribute to his sister brother Mark described her as an ‘independent’ woman who despite her health troubles lived life to the full.