A great-grandmother could have been saved if it were not for hospital failings, an inquest heard.
The family of 68-year-old June Parkes said they saw “justice done” after a coroner claimed she would have survived had a necessary hospital transfer taken place sooner.
Mrs Parkes, from Elland, died minutes after being transferred to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary from Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax in the early hours of December 17 2014, after suffering gastro-intestinal bleeding.
The conclusion of the hearing at Bradford Coroner’s Court heard how Mrs Parkes had been at Calderdale for the previous two days where she underwent an endoscopy.
Mrs Parkes had type 2 diabetes, dementia and ischaemic heart disease, and began to feel unwell three days prior to her death.
She was taken to Calderdale Royal later in the evening after vomiting blood.
An endoscopy took place the following afternoon, but the inquest heard Mrs Parkes suffered internal bleeding again afterwards, and should have been transferred to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary for a further endoscopy under anaesthetic.
Assistant coroner Mary Burke said: “If she had been transferred to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary on or before the afternoon of December 16, it’s likely her death would have been avoided.”
The inquest heard how “it was not clear why” Mrs Parkes was not transferred until 1.25am on the morning of December 17, despite having suffered internal bleeding earlier in the day.
Mrs Parkes arrived at Huddersfield at 1.44am, but was sadly pronounced dead at 2am.
Mrs Burke added that if Mrs Parkes had been admitted straight to hospital on the afternoon she felt unwell “she would not have died.”
The inquest heard how an on-call GP had seen Mrs Parkes on the afternoon of December 14 and advised, though didn’t insist, she went to hospital.
Mrs Burke said: “He seemed to focus on the family’s wishes rather than his own clinical judgements.”
Mrs Parkes’ family did not initially want her to go to hospital as the surroundings aggravated her dementia.
Mrs Burke recorded a narrative verdict for Mrs Parke’s death, after it was heard she died as a result of an intestinal haemorrhage from duodenal bleeding, as well as ischaemic heart disease.
Following the verdict, Mrs Parkes’ husband of more than 40 years, Michael, said: “I have seen justice done today.”
Watch the journey from Huddersfield to Calderdale Royal Hospital in our time-lapse video below
