Death after private hospital operation avoidable – inquest

After attempts to raise Ms Exall’s low blood pressure did not work at the private hospital, she went into cardiac arrest and was transferred to Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales where she died.

Pathologist Prof Richard Attanoos, who carried out the post-mortem examination, concluded Ms Exall “would not have died when she died had she not had surgery”.

The inquest heard Ms Exall previously had cardiology treatment, but an assessment concluded she was fit for surgery.

Dr Michael Cronin, who carried out the surgery, said the operation was “low risk” and he had “no concerns” when he saw her later in the day.

The morning after surgery, Ms Exall’s blood pressure dropped and an early warning score (EWS) – which determines the degree of a patient’s illness – indicated she was likely to deteriorate rapidly.

But some doctors told the inquest they were unaware of the score and would have acted differently had they known.

Anaesthetist for the operation, Dr Madhwapathi Sudhaka said while “everything was done by the book” during surgery, he would have called 999 at the point of the EWS score, abut six hours before the situation was eventually escalated.

Dr Subramaniam Balachandran, the anaesthetist on the day Ms Exall died, told the inquest her symptoms were not pointing towards cardiac arrest but the private hospital was “not equipped to deal with acute deteriorations”.

The inquest continues.