The Durham Hospital which killed my Jacqueline, and then lied about their actions and promises

These words are those used in my YouTube video, with the same Header title.

A friend has remarked that I should perhaps now leave this alone. Would You?

A libellous statement is one where a person knowingly writes or publishes anything which is defamatory of another person or organisation. The ONLY defence against an action for Libel is for the publisher to state and show that every word written or spoken is true.

This is not a story; the events spoken and written really happened: to my wife Jacqueline, to me, her husband: but it has also happened to many within the orbit of the Durham City University Hospital. The hospital claimed to have altered its practices in line with a Court of Appeal decision regarding Resuscitation arrangements back in 2014: but, as I believe I have proven; ‘once a liar; always a liar’.

Jacqueline, my wife of some fifty-three years marriage, was admitted to the Orthopaedic Ward of the University Hospital of North Durham on Friday, May 7th, 2021 for an operation to repair a fractured hip. I was warned that there were risks in the operation, because of my wife’s frailty with specific mention of the anaesthesia; and worries that she might not survive the shock of that anaesthetic, and I freely accepted that, although there were risks, those risks were fully justified. I was not warned by that young female doctor, standing by my wife’s transfer trolley, that there would be a second set of medical professionals studying my wife’s very life signs, to decide, by their standards, their statistical surveys and charts: if she lived, or died.I waited until the Saturday afternoon when a call came, telling me that Jacqueline had been through the operation, which was successful, had recovered consciousness, and after having a drink of tea, was resting comfortably. My worries relieved, I relaxed: but later in the evening, received another call from the hospital, telling me bluntly that my wife, my beloved Jacqueline; had died after a heart attack. Never having lost a family member before, I was grief-stricken. I cannot speak of those days without reliving the loss of my wife. But I survived; I survived by remorselessly following and completing the list of things to do when telling the world of officialdom of a death. 

But overhanging all of my digital tasks was the memory of my wife, about nine months previously, having her heart checked out with an ultrasonic device in hospital, and the technician stating that my wife’s heart was as strong as an ox. I could not shake that worry away, as I slowly rebuilt my life, now alone. I was aided by my family, my three adult kids, along with my brother and his wife. They gave me sterling support, but I could not brush away that feeling that something was missing.

I was contacted by the Coroner’s Office, and was informed that, because of my wife’s unexpected and sudden death, there had to be an Inquest. I was asked if I could provide a Family Statement, and this I agreed to do. I also asked that I be copied with the Hospital Reports concerning my wife’s operation, and subsequent death. I remembered, and added in to the Statement, that I recalled a Telegraph article which talked about DNAR notices rising like wildfire during the Covid crisis. 

I only discovered the presence of this deadly, deadly at least for my Jacqueline, document when I received copies of the hospital records which were sent to the Coroner. In the hospital Doctor’s report regarding my wife, were the words:-

The patient’s next of kin was contacted by the Orthopaedic Registrar and explained the plan for surgery. The registrar also discussed the high risk of the procedure due to the patients frailty and the decision to place a DNAR in-situ. The husband agreed for the surgery as well as the decision to put a DNAR in place.

This whole paragraph, as written by the reporting doctor, is nothing but lies, lies and damned lies.

The Orthopaedic Registrar did contact me on the Friday evening, but all I got from him was a three-odd minute monologue, where he kept saying that patients who had been resuscitated often experienced limited qualities of Life, and how they didn’t last very long after the operation itself. Nothing else. No enquiries as to what my thoughts or reactions would be if a Do Not Attempt Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation notice was planned to be signed and placed upon my wife’s bedside file! No mention of the Acronym DNACPR. Nothing at all. To be plainly explicit: Sweet ‘Eff All!

So I shall state that the University Hospital of North Durham did allow my wife Jacqueline to die without any assistance after a heart attack, because they had illegally published a DNAR notice, and laid it at my beloved’s bed, without my knowledge or consent. They had Defibrillators, they had medication, they had time; but they did nothing. They stated that Jacqueline suffered a heart attack: they said that a catastrophic collapse of her bodily systems had occurred. Whether this was true, I neither know nor care. If they had at least tried to resuscitate that frail body, and failed: so be it; but they did not. Instead, they obeyed that illegally published DNAR document, and, by doing nothing, condemned my wife’s mortal remains to be laid on their own medical scrapheap.

I attended the first Inquest, but found that I was the only person there, as the hospital had sent no witness. The Coroner was exceedingly kind to me, and allowed an extra Adjournment so that the Hospital could be warned to provide a witness. I continued my research, concentrating on the documents published and used by the Hospital with specific regard to the DNACPR scenario, and discovered that, although last modified on 6th March 2013, no mention is made of an Important Appeal Court decision in June 2014; where specific note was made that the family or legal trustee of the patient should be contacted and made aware of the DNAR proposal. I attended the Inquest, but, was unsuccessful mainly because I was insufficiently aware of the type of questioning needed to forensically query the surgeon who was the hospital witness.

All I was able to achieve was an admission, from the surgeon, regarding the alleged conversation with the Orthopaedic Registrar and his conversation with me: were the words, “Perhaps the matter could have been better handled”. The Only reason that I did not explode in anger and frustration was the fact that I was in a Coroner’s Inquest; and I could not insult that kind and sympathetic Coroner. What the moron who was posing as a ‘Registrar’ said was the hospital’s version of the Appeal Court decision, of which Lord Dyson, the Master of the Rolls, said: A “DNACPR decision is one which will potentially deprive the patient of life-saving treatment, there should be a presumption in favour of patient involvement. There need to be convincing reasons not to involve the patient.” (Para. 53). 

The hospital wrote saying the Trust accepted that the decision to place the DNACPR was not made clear enough. Bollocks! That bloody decision was never even mentioned during the moron’s monologue!

After the Inquest was finally adjourned, I submitted a formal complaint to the Trust and the hospital regarding the disgraceful manner in which my wife and I were treated, and ignored. I submitted this on 3rd November 2021. I received a clarification letter on the 10th December, and a final reply, containing a revised DNACPR document dated 21/5/2019, in which statements are made which could include the Court’s Decision, but no reference specifically is made to this vital Decision; and an offer to host a video which would tell of the experience received by both patient and family member. The offer was made unconditional, and also stated than the video would be available on the ‘Patient Experience’ sector of the Hospital Website on both the Trust Intranet and Internet. 

I welcomed this offer, and replied in the following words, 

“Upon receipt of (The Former Deputy Chief Executive) Carole Langrick’s letter, and after absorbing the statements within, I am of the opinion that a video telling of my Jacqueline’s brief stay in the Orthopaedic Ward, her death and my discoveries of how she and I were treated; would indeed be a seemly salute to my beloved: and I would accept such an offer.

My offer was supposedly accepted by the Hospital, and I recorded a video, and sent it off. After several emails later, I recorded another video, made with a better camera and microphone, and sent that also to the hospital; this was also accepted, and the contents viewed. One comment was “I must say this was very powerful and very emotional and thank you so much for doing this and sharing it with me.” many further emails were sent, mainly my enquiring when the video would be uploaded? My hopes were high, as I had that promise from the top people of the Trust, so I remained confident.

But the final crushing words were made in a phone call from Paula Brennan, the Patient Experience Manager, when she stated that the Trust and Hospital would not be uploading my video neither to the Intranet  nor Internet, despite the written offer under the signature of the former Deputy Chief Executive: the Trust was not interested in any further discussion: and I should probably go away and play with my  marbles.

So now you have it. The County Durham & Darlington NHS Trust, alongside the University Hospital of North Durham,  Lied, and Lied, and Lied Again.  Their Offers of video hosting, the letters, shown at the base of this post, and the condolences expressed therein, aren’t worth the printer ink used to produce those letters, because once you are proven a liar, everything you have ever said, or pronounced, or written, on CDDFT & NHS letter headed paper, on that particular subject; can accurately be judged as a lie.

My following words are a warning, to any patient, or indeed patient’s family, whose entry into the University Hospital is proposed for the purposes of surgery: of any sort of surgery under a general anaesthetic.
“Demand to speak to the people who will be in charge, not of the surgery, but of the decision which will mean the difference between life, or death. Ask, no, Demand to speak to the people, the consultants, the specialists, the medical professionals who will study the medical files relating to the patient under scrutiny, and DEMAND  that you be informed if there is to be a decision on whether a Do Not Attempt Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation form be completed and set upon that Patient’s file. Because you have a legal right to be consulted, and a Legal right to argue if a decision should indeed be made, The Law demands that you be given that right. So, if you are old, or infirm, or if you are ‘Vulnerable’, or Frail, or if the damn Statistics show that CPR would not or might not help, just remember that your voice counts, or rather should count, louder than a bunch of medical vultures, and ask, no demand, a second or even third opinion, because if you find yourself, or a near and dear relative, approaching a proposal for surgery from the University Hospital of North Durham, remember that a fair proportion of the senior staff are all liars, especially when it comes to decisions about Do Not Attempt Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation. ”  

The Final Reply Letter from the Trust and Hospital