Wrexham Maelor: Woman’s sepsis death ‘might have been prevented’ – ombudsman

Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, Michelle Morris, said the failure to identify Mrs K’s gallstones in January 2021 was “an unacceptable service failure which caused Mrs K and her family a continued and grave injustice”.

She said: “Had Mrs K been treated appropriately at the outset, her acute pancreatitis would have been treated successfully and on balance, her deterioration and death might have been prevented.”

Ms Morris said she was also “deeply concerned” at the health board’s seeming “lack of candour” in its response to the complaint.

She added that clinicians during her investigation showed a “lack of objective reflection” and “continued to fail to identify and acknowledge failings in Mrs K’s care”.

She went on to say that she was mindful the episode of care occurred during a time of Covid restrictions, but said that even with those in place the patient would have been able to access appropriate treatment within a few weeks.