THE family of a man from near Bridgnorth who bled to death at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford claimed he would still be alive if he had received the proper treatment.
Three different doctors, including a former Shropshire medic cleared of involvement in the London and Glasgow car bomb plot, failed to realise Leslie Needle, 63, of Nordley, was haemorrhaging internally, an inquest in Telford heard.
Dr Mohammed Asha, an anaesthetist and a registrar all believed Mr Needle was dehydrated and treated him accordingly but he eventually suffered a heart attack.
Divorcee Mr Needle, a painter and decorator, died on July 18 2006 of bleeding and peritonitis due to perforated diverticular disease, having undergone a bowel operation hours before.
An inquest jury on Wednesday returned a narrative verdict after a three-day hearing which said the management and care he received from the medical team in the intermediate care area after his operation was “severely lacking”, particularly with regard to the recording of notes, communication and team work.
The verdict added that had adequate consideration been given to the possibility of internal bleeding, a recognised complication of the kind of surgery he had undergone, Mr Needle could have been taken back to theatre and he may not have died.
Then house officer Dr Asha, who was acquitted at Woolwich Crown Court last year of conspiracy to murder and to cause explosions, the anaesthetist involved Dr Christy Davis, and the registrar, Dr Awais Shuja, no longer work for the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust.
Mr Needle’s son Jason, of Sunnymeade, Sutton Hill, Telford, said after the inquest that the family was unable to say yet whether it would be taking legal action.
A statement issued on behalf of the family said: ‘We are very disappointed with the aftercare our dad received at the Princess Royal Hospital. If things were done correctly he would still be here today.
‘The only good thing that has come out of this is the hospital has made several recommendations so this should save people’s lives and other families will not have to go through what we have gone through.’
