The family of a woman who died at Torbay Hospital have reached an out of court settlement over claims she died due to medical negligence. Maureen Thompson suffered a cardiac arrest and died in intensive care in October 2017.
She was admitted with abdominal pains on her 70th birthday and received treatment over a 10-day period, initially for ischaemic colitis which resulted in acute kidney injury. Her family claimed the hospital failed to properly monitor, record, assess and address a number of issues relating to her health over that period, in particular the plummeting levels of potassium in her body.
They brought a legal claim against the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust alleging a breach of care. The crucial issue was Maureen's hypokalaemia - a potassium deficiency that arose as she recovered from the kidney injury. As the vital mineral left her body the hospital failed to provide her with potassium replacement and increase monitoring, they claimed.