Stafford Hospital nurses failed to give insulin to tragic patient

Senior staff nurse Ann King and ward manager Jeannette Coulson failed to check Gillian Astbury's notes when she was admitted following a fall which fractured her pelvis.

Mrs Astbury, of Hednesford, aged 66, was denied insulin for 48 hours and she fell into a coma with 'off the chart' blood sugar levels in 2007, a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel heard.

The pair failed to check her notes when she was admitted following a stroke in April 2007, but claimed they had no idea she was diabetic.

Rebecca Wood from the NMC said: "If they had looked, they would have seen this information recorded in her notes."

Coulson and King were both found guilty of a series of failures which put patients at risk between 2004 and 2009.

Jurors at Mrs Astbury's inquest in September 2012 concluded that the failure to administer insulin to the patient amounted to a gross failure to provide basic care. Earlier this year the Health and Safety Executive launched a criminal investigation into Mrs Astbury's death.

The two nurses had disputed who was responsible for the treatment of the pensioner, blaming failures on each other.

King denied all allegations against her, while Coulson admitted using inappropriate language and replacing a sign that stated what times relatives could speak to staff after it had been taken down. She also accepted she had sworn at colleagues.

But the pair were cleared of ignoring the cries for help of a patient moments before she was found dead with her head apparently stuck between bed railings at the hospital. A post-mortem revealed the patient had died of natural causes after she was admitted to the hospital in 2005 with a broken leg.

King and Coulson were found guilty of a host of other allegations, including keeping inaccurate records and overseeing poor care.

Both nurses, who have since retired, face being struck off the nursing register if the NMC rules their actions amount to misconduct.