Of course people die in US hospitals all the time, but remember, their system is the ideal, utopia - ours is the worst (or one of) and from the worst you can't expect much, but from the ideal - we should!
Sally, 20, dies after doc drip blunder
By JO CHARLTON
September 18, 2009
A YOUNG woman died in hospital after waiting nearly two hours for a life-saving blood transfusion.
Sally Thompson, 20, lost two litres of blood after a doctor punctured a major vessel while putting a drip in her neck — without following strict NHS guidelines.
Doctors at Manchester Royal Infirmary frantically called around for blood to help revive her, but she died one hour and 45 minutes later before any arrived.
Failure
Now a coroner has said the hospital's inability to give her blood was a "significant failure" in her death.
Sally's dad John Thompson, 62 — who has vowed to take legal action — said: "This hospital is supposed to be the cornerstone of the NHS in Manchester, but they couldn't get any blood for two hours."
Sally, from Middleton, Greater Manchester, an administration assistant with Rochdale council, had suffered from a rare blood disorder since she was a child.
She was admitted to hospital in August 2005 complaining of weakness in her legs, and fits, and doctors decided to insert a tube into her jugular vein to administer vital drugs.
The inquest heard the doctor used a landmark technique to find the vein, instead of ultrasound — which is recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to reduce complications — but the tube pierced the jugular causing internal bleeding.
Mr Thompson said: "It beggars belief that the ultrasound equipment was there but wasn't used. The guidelines were in place to stop something like this happening."
The hospital has launched an investigation into why it took so long to give Sally a blood transfusion. It has also changed its procedures over how drips are inserted.
The coroner recorded a narrative verdict.
health
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