GP and hospital fail to diagnose new mum’s pulmonary embolism

In some cases, this will amount to medical negligence and patients or their families will seek medical negligence compensation from the NHS.

In the tragic case of Michelle Roach, just six weeks after giving birth to her first child both her GP and staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital missed the chance to treat a blocked blood vessel in her lung, which sadly resulted in her death.

In the weeks before contacting her GP, Mrs Roach collapsed twice. Two days before her death, Mrs Roach visited her GP after feeling like she could not breathe. The GP gave a diagnosis of an anxiety or panic attack and told her to go back the next day.

The following day, in a telephone appointment with her GP, Mrs Roach was told she could wait another 4 days before being seen. This was despite the GP having been told the patient had deteriorated and only spoken to her over the phone.

Later the same day, after a phone call from Mrs Roach’s husband, the GP attended the home and found that Mrs Roach needed hospitalisation as she was “breathless on exertion”.

Whilst in hospital Mrs Roach suffered two cardiac arrests and the coroner found that failure to administer an anti-coagulant contributed to her death.

In this case, the coroner found there were failings in the care given by both Mrs Roach’s GP and the hospital.

Mrs Roach’s husband has called for there to be better education to new mothers about pulmonary embolisms. It is important for new mothers to understand the risks of complications after giving birth, and to be given information to help them recognise the signs and symptoms to allow them to seek help before it becomes life-threatening.

If you feel you have suffered due to poor care from a medical professional like a GP or an institution then you may have cause to make a medical negligence claim. Blackwater Law offer to represent all accepted cases on a no win, no fee basis, so please contact us to find out if you could make a claim.