Selly Oak Hospital 'failed to spot' OAP's fractured skull

Mar 29 2009 by Alison Dayani, Sunday Mercury

A WIFE has told how her elderly husband nearly died after hospital doctors diagnosed him with a ‘bump on the head’ – even though he had a fractured skull and brain damage.

Andrew Johnstone, aged 79, was rushed by ambulance to Selly Oak’s A&E department after suffering the potentially fatal injury in a fall.

Yet wife Anne says medics initially diagnosed just a minor bump and only realised the severity of his condition when she insisted on a CT scan.

It revealed the pensioner, from Kings Norton, Birmingham, was bleeding from the brain – which had been penetrated by bone from the fracture.

Staff then rushed the OAP into emergency surgery but he was left in a coma for a week. The retired driver is now recovering at Moseley Hall Hospital and an investigation is underway into the case.

Angry Anne, aged 69, said: ‘‘If we had gone home, I have no doubt my husband would be dead now.’’

The case follows public warnings over the dangers of head injuries following the sudden death of actress Natasha Richardson. She fell and hit her head while skiing in Canada and, after initially refusing medical help, she later died in hospital.

Former auxiliary nurse Anne claims her husband was ignored for hours at the hospital after a fall on January 21, despite showing classic symptoms of brain bleed – vomiting and disorientation. She also claims A&E staff treated the pensioner as low priority, seeing minor injuries ahead of him, even though head trauma should take precedence.