Warnings raised after man died at Broomfield Hospital from common condition
A coroner's written to the Department of Health and the British Society of Gastroenterology
Warnings around a common condition suffered by up to 60 per cent of the population in middle and later life has been highlighted by a coroner after the death of a man at a hospital in Essex.
Tom Glover died at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford on May 22nd 2024 from a complication of a hernia.
Tom, born in 1953, underwent a number of emergency surgeries at Broomfield Hospital, which were ultimately unsuccessful.
He developed multi-organ failure and was placed on end of life care.
On April 13th Tom was admitted to Ipswich Hospital with vomiting symptoms indicative of gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines.
He was discharged the next day.
The day after his discharge he became acutely unwell and returned to the Ipswich Hospital, where he suffered a cardiac arrest.
Once resuscitated he was diagnosed with a strangulated hiatus hernia and transferred by blue light ambulance to Broomfield Hospital.
Despite intensive care unit support and emergency surgeries, Tom had suffered irreversible damage to his gastrointestinal system, from which he could not survive.
The coroner for Suffolk, Nigel Parsley, said that had information around his severe condition at Ipswich Hospital been escalated, it is more likely than not that Tom would have not been discharged.
He added that it important to recognise there are two types of hiatus hernia suffered by up to 60 per cent of the population in middle and later life.
A sliding hiatus hernia moves up and down through the naturally occurring hole in the diaphragm while a para-oesophageal hiatus hernia – also called a rolling hernia – sees part of the stomach push up through the hole in the diaphragm.
In the population over 80 per cent of those individuals suffer from sliding hiatus hernia, whilst only between five to 15 per cent will have a rolling hiatus hernia but which is far more likely to develop into known complications.
In a prevention of future deaths report sent to the Department of Health and the British Society of Gastroenterology, the coroner warned: “The lack of understanding of the difference between the two types of hiatus hernia within the medical community means that there is no increased vigilance taken when individuals with a para-oesophageal hiatus hernia present with symptoms.
“In addition, the cohort of individuals who suffer from para-oesophageal hiatus hernia in England, are unaware of the increased risk posed by their condition and are therefore unable to advocate for more testing, or seek a second opinion, when worrying symptoms do arise.”
The DHSC and the British Society of Gastroenterology have been contacted for comment.