Sisters want probe into mum's death at University Hospital Wishaw

Sisters Stacey and Adele Foy are demanding bosses at University Hospital Wishaw meet with them to explain how their mum Margaret Tonner deteriorated so rapidly that she was dead less than four weeks after being admitted.

Margaret, 64, was rushed to A&E after becoming confused and disoriented and her daughters say she was then forced to wait nine hours before being admitted to a mental health ward.

Margaret as she was admitted to hospital (Image: Supplied)

Nurse Adele, from Bellshill in North Lanarkshire, exclusively told the Glasgow Times: “Our family has been to hell and back and we want the answers that we are entitled to.

“My mum was admitted with cellulitis and should have been taken to a medical ward straight away, but because she was delirious - which can be sign of serious infection - she was sent to a mental health unit where her condition quickly worsened over the next three days.

“She was then moved to another ward, and only then did it transpire that she had sepsis and pneumonia. By this point she was in a bad way and barley able to communicate with us. She went downhill so fast and was moved to high dependency and given seven types of antibiotics through a drip.

Margaret's condition rapidly went downhill while in hospital (Image: Supplied)

“We believe that our mum’s body was clearly battling a bad infection when she first presented and feel this wasn’t properly or thoroughly investigated at the time. We want answers as to why this happened.

“We need to know why our mum was dead within a few weeks of being taken into the care of the NHS.”

The heartbroken sisters also claim that they flagged that Margaret could have a potentially life-threating blood clot after noticing her legs were inflamed and swollen.

Margaret, who also suffered from COPD and bipolar disorder, passed away on July 14 after first presenting at A&E in the middle of June.

Adele, 33, adds: “Mum was crying out in pain and her legs were red, sore and puffed up.

"I told one of the doctors that I am a nurse and I thought it could be a blood clot and asked if they could check. They examined her and said that wasn’t the case, yet just three and half hours later she was dead.

The family were concerned by marks and swelling on their mum's legs (Image: Supplied)

“We are still struggling to come to terms with what happened and can’t quite get our heads around the sudden deterioration in her over such a short space of time.

“She was a lovely wee woman who would help anyone, she had a heart of gold. Our mum was kind and caring and had so much to live for. We just can’t believe she is gone.”

The family have now raised an official complaint with the patient affairs team at the hospital over the standard of care Margaret received.

The sisters are demanding answers (Image: Gordon Terris)

Adele added: “We just want a face-to face meeting to lay out our concerns as we have been left with a lot of questions that we need answers to. We just need to an opportunity to put our points across and hear a detailed explanation of the reasoning and thought process that went into the decisions about how our mum was cared for. Until we get that we are in limbo.”

We previously told how the sisters suffered the loss of their dad John, who battled end-stage liver disease, sepsis and pneumonia but was ruled fit to go home by staff at University Hospital Monklands.

The wheelchair-bound 55-year-old was returned to the hospital after ambulance staff were unable to get him inside his second-floor flat in Coatbridge. John was later taken to University Hospital Wishaw and passed away in January.

Adele says she is now considering legal action over his treatment and says what has happened with her mum has only strengthened her resolve.

READ MORE: Daughter demands probe into University Hospital Monklands care

She added: “We feel badly let down by what happened to my father and we are determined to take this all the way. I’m disgusted at the way he was treated, I begged medics not to send him home as he clearly wasn’t well enough.

John Foy (Image: Supplied)

“I want to know how someone who has end-stage liver disease, sepsis and pneumonia could possibly be fit for discharge. He was so ill that he ended up passing away at the start of the year. I won’t give up until we have answers for both our parents.”

Eddie Docherty, Executive Nurse Director for NHS Lanarkshire said: “Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the family at this very difficult time.

“We are sorry that the family are unhappy with their mother’s care. They have been in touch with our patient affairs team with their concerns and we will respond to them directly.”