Hospital 'is safe', insists dialysis patient after diabetic man bled to death
A head of a dialysis patient group has defended staff after an inquest revealed how errors had led to the death of a patient.
Barbara Soden, from Shrewsbury, said that she and other patients trust staff at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital “implicitly with our lives every week”and says she wants to reassure new patients.
Her plea comes after the death of Mohammed Ismael ‘Bolly’ Zaman, 31, who died when an unidentified nurse pressed the “reset” button on his machine without checking his lines were safely connected. He lost three pints of blood, went into cardiac arrest and died in October 2019. His family is suing the hospital.
Ms Soden, who is also the chairwoman of the Shropshire and Mid Wales Kidney Dialysis Patients Association and has been dialysing at the hospital for three-and-a-half years, said: “On behalf of the association, we would like to send our heartfelt sympathy to Bolly’s family.
"A death of one of our fellow patients is always distressing. Whether it be at home or in unit, when our bodies are just too tired to go on, with the ravages of dialysis get too much.
“The staff and patients were all devastated to hear about the death of Bolly. The staff did everything they could to try and save him.”
Evidence was heard at Mr Zaman’s inquest at Shirehall last week. Coroner John Ellery is expected to give his conclusion and final remarks this week.
Ms Soden said Mr Zaman’s tubes had been covered up by blankets because of the coldness of the room, an issue caused by troublesome heating in the unit.
She said staff there were dedicated and skilled and that she trusted them totally.
She added: “Over the month, in Shrewsbury alone, there are 1,200 sessions.
“New measures have been implemented to encourage patients not to have their lines covered. We have had new measures put in place to keep us safe so this will not happen again.”
