"Nil by mouth" patient dies after nurse feeds him tablet

5:54pm Thursday 13th December 2012 in News

"Nil by mouth" patient dies after nurse feeds him tablet "Nil by mouth" patient dies after nurse feeds him tablet

A NURSE ran from a ward crying “I’ve killed him” after feeding a tablet to a patient who choked and died, an inquest heard.

Agency nurse Kirsten May gave Norman Betchley the tablet even though an A5 sign above his head stated “nil by mouth”, Chelmsford Coroners Court heard.

Mr Betchley, 81, had been admitted to hospital two months earlier after suffering breathing difficulties,

He was being fed either through his nose or by a PEG feeding tube into his stomach.

Although Mr Betchley had shown signs of improvement, he had been placed on the Liverpool Pathway, which dictates patients should not be resuscitated.

But he died shortly after 8am on April 9 after he was given a tablet to take with a glass of water.

See Friday's Gazette for the full story

Comments(4)

Boris says...
10:35pm Thu 13 Dec 12

The "Liverpool Pathway" means the patient is going to die anyway, but it should not have happened like this. This episode shows the folly of using agency staff instead of permanent staff who would no doubt have taken greater care.
.
R.I.P. Mr. Betchley.

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Feisty CBC says...
11:24pm Thu 13 Dec 12

Just because the Nurse was an "agency worker" it does not mean that she has undertaken lesser training and qualifications than a permanent employee.
The Nurse must have been and no doubt still is, absolutely distraught over Mr. Betchley's demise.

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Boris says...
12:29am Fri 14 Dec 12

The story may be clearer when we see the printed paper. The fact remains that in general, and in any job, a temporary worker is less committed than a permanent one. No offence intended to this nurse, but it is true. And of course the use of staff on temporary or short-term contracts, sometimes even zero-hours contracts, is steadily increasing in our post-Thatcher casualised labour market.

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Feisty CBC says...
11:46am Fri 14 Dec 12

I've always found that temporary workers put in a bigger effort than permanent ones so as to make an impression in the hope of getting their contract extended or being offered a full-time position. Also, agency staff are representing not only themselves but the agancy that they are working for. Thefore to get another position elsewhere they have to pull their weight. Certainly temporary and casual staff are entitled to more benefits than they were around fifteen years ago.

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