Case study: review following death of a bowel surgery patient
Death of a bowel surgery patient
A significant proportion of Verita's work involves patient safety investigations. Typical of these was the recent independent review that Verita conducted into the circumstances surrounding the death of a patient after laparoscopic bowel surgery at a hospital in the Midlands.
The investigation was conducted by Derek Mechen and Chris Brougham - both senior investigators at Verita - with the support of specialist medical advisers from a teaching hospital in another region.
The review concluded that a leak in the bowel join may have gone undetected for a number of days after surgery. The review team also discovered that a CT scan had been misinterpreted.
Commenting on Verita's work, the trust's chief nurse said: "This investigation has helped us move our services forward. The whole board was universally impressed by the standard of the investigation, report and recommendations. The way that Derek and Chris worked with the patient's family also made a big difference to them."