Northamptonshire woman left 'deeply traumatised' after hospital tells the wrong family their mum died in traumatic mix-up

The hospital has apologised to the woman after mistakenly informing her that her mother had passed away.

Brenda Hill’s mother, Margaret Jackson (known as Jean to family and friends), was admitted to the Horton General Hospital’s Emergency Assessment Unit, in Banbury, on Friday August 22.

The 94-year-old Middleton Cheney resident had contracted an infection, which her local GP was unable to clear.

Brenda told our sister paper The Banbury Guardian: “My mother became quite unwell on the Friday and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

“I went in to see her for a short while on the Friday; she was a little bit muddled and confused because of the infection, but mostly she was alert.”

The following morning, Brenda received a call from the Horton, saying that her mother had become very unwell, and she was advised to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.

It took a stressful hour for Brenda, who lives in Towcester, to get to Banbury because of roadworks and traffic for an event held at Silverstone.

She said: “It took us an hour to get to the hospital, by which time I was incredibly stressed.

“I cried nearly all the way there, and the traffic was so bad I was sure we were not going to get to the hospital in time.”

Once Brenda arrived at the Horton, she quickly made her way to the ward where her mother was.

After introducing herself as Margaret Jackson’s daughter to the nurses on the ward, the unit sister took Brenda and her husband to a side room.

Brenda said: “In my head, I knew immediately that we were too late, and I remember turning to her and asking her if we were too late.

The unit sister then told Brenda: “I’m very sorry that your mum has passed away.”

Brenda was then informed that her mother had been found slumped in her bed with a very weak pulse and had slipped away.

Brenda said: “I lost my brother to cancer last year on August 24, so I’m thinking about how I lost my brother on the 24th and now my mother on the 23rd.

“There were a lot of tears, and I couldn’t really take in everything that the unit sister was telling me, but eventually I asked to see my mother’s body.”

Brenda and her husband were then led by the sister to the bay where her mother’s body was.

She said: “As I went through the door of the bay, I could see the curtains were pulled around one of the beds.

“They had moved my mother to a different bay, so as I walked in expecting to see her on the right-hand side, I just happened to glance across the room.

“At that point, I saw my mother sitting up in bed, drinking a cup of tea and eating biscuits!"

This resulted in Brenda falling into hysterics and shouting: ‘That’s my mum!’

Brenda said: “I just completely broke down in tears and went over to my mum and gave her a big hug, at which point she turned around and asked: ‘What’s the matter?’"

“It was such a horrific experience, and no one should have to go through something like that ever!”

The unit sister apologised profusely to Brenda and informed her that the mix-up was caused because her next of kin details had been put on the other lady’s notes.

Another nurse told Brenda that the administrative error was the result of a computer error, but Brenda believes it possible that the mix-up was a result of both patients having similar names.

Brenda said: “I was sitting with my mother for a few hours, and eventually the son of the deceased lady arrived on the ward.

“This was very distressing for me as well because we knew that he was called roughly two hours later than when we received the call.

“I couldn’t help but think that if they had called the man when they called us, he may have been able to get to the hospital to spend time with his mother before she passed away.”

Brenda, who has previously worked as a nurse, says the mix-up and stress caused by the error are totally unacceptable.

Since the incident, she has filed a complaint to the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the hospital.

She said: “This incident has been an eye-opener and a wake-up call that we shouldn’t assume that hospitals have the correct next-of-kin details.

“I didn’t check with the hospital that my details were correct for my mum, as I had given my details as next of kin to the ambulance staff.

“Prior to calling me, they had rung my deceased brother’s number, as they had not updated my mum’s details of next of kin. His wife answered the call and told them to ring me.”

Thankfully, Brenda’s mother, Margaret, has now been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.

Brenda, however, says she has been deeply traumatised by the experience and is angry at the hospital for making the error.

She said: “I’m angry that such a thing could happen. I understand there can be human error, but something this serious shouldn’t happen.

“We should have been on holiday this week, but there was no way I could enjoy a holiday because the stress is still on my mind.

“I’m just grateful they moved my mother to a different bay overnight, and she was in the same bay as the deceased lady; otherwise, I would have been taken in to see the deceased lady, and that would have been even worse.

“I sympathise with the other family, and I just hope something like this never happens to someone else.”

Oxford University Hospitals has apologised to Brenda and her family and says it is taking the necessary steps to prevent a similar incident from taking place.

Yvonne Christley, chief nursing officer at OUH, said: “We are deeply sorry for the distress caused to Mrs Jackson and her family, and fully understand how difficult this experience was for them.

“Following the incident, a comprehensive review was conducted to determine its causes and to identify steps for preventing recurrence.

“Additional safety measures have been implemented to enhance the processes for verifying patient identity and next-of-kin details, and compliance is being closely monitored.

“We are committed to learning from this error and maintaining the highest standards of patient care and communication. If the family would like to discuss this further, we would welcome the opportunity to speak with them directly.

“Once again, we would like to offer our unreserved apologies to all involved.”