THE children of a woman who died after at least three hospitals refused to admit her for surgery have instructed lawyers to launch legal action

Mary Muldowney was turned away from teh Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and other hospitals due to a lack of beds and by the time she was admitted to East Surrey Hospital in Redhill on July 20 last year a ct scan revealed she was suffering from a heavy bleed on the brain and that she needed emergency life-saving surgery.

Her daughter Sharon Callan, 38, said a coroner's ruling that the 57-year-old would probably have survived if she had been given immediate life-saving surgery to stem the bleeding.

She said: “Everything just became clear at the inquest; all the issues with the hospitals, the calls trying to find her a place for the operation, the bed shortages. I left the hearing with legs like jelly. I couldn’t believe that something like this could happen.

“It’s too late for my mum, and that’s something we are still trying to come to terms with, but if by raising awareness of what happened to her and how badly she was let down can prevent another family feeling this pain then something positive will have come from the loss of a wonderful mum and grandmother.”

The Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton was among those who had refused to admit Mrs Muldowney, from Crawley, because they had no beds available.

The same happened at St George’s Hospital in Tooting and King’s College Hospital in London.

In desperation, knowing of the neurological expertise of a former colleague, a doctor at East Surrey Hospital rang a consultant neurosurgeon at Royal London Hospital (RLH). He accepted transfer immediately, though in fact the RLH had no intensive care bed available at that time.

Mary was transferred to the RLH but her condition deteriorated in the ambulance and the surgery was performed too late to save her.

An inquest into Mary’s death found that it was likely she would have survived if she had been given immediate surgery to stem the bleeding.

Mary’s children Sharon and Mr Sean Muldowney have now instructed specialist medical negligence lawyers Irwin Mitchell to investigate the failures which led to their mother’s death. They want to highlight everything that happened to ensure lessons are learnt and no other patient suffers the same fate.

Leanne Leighton, an expert medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, representing Sharon and Sean, said: “The revelations at the inquest came as a shock to Sharon and Sean who had been unaware of the full extent of the issues surrounding the availability of a bed for their mother.

“While tragically it is too late for Mary, Sharon and Sean hope that by taking legal action against the hospitals who refused to admit her, significant pressure will be put on the trusts to make changes which will prevent the same thing happening again.”

Recording a narrative verdict, Coroner Mary Hassell said the evidence showed that Mary could have been transferred, undergone surgery and spent time in recovery, whilst an intensive care bed was found for her.

If a bed could not be found she could then have been transferred to a different hospital, at least having undergone the life-saving surgery, she added.

“With prompt transfer and surgery, Ms Muldowney would probably have survived. In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe that you have the power to take such action,” she said.

The Coroner has now used Regulation 28 of the Coroner's Rules to call for Mary's care to be re-examined to ensure future deaths can be prevented and a response is due from the Trusts explaining how they plan to learn from Mary’s case and prevent similar deaths in the future.