Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury mother died after hospital discharge

A mother of two young children died just hours after being discharged from Royal Shrewsbury Hospital as she recovered from a serious illness, an inquest has heard.

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Royal Shrewsbury Hospital

Alison Jones, from Radbrook in Shrewsbury, was aged just 32 when she died on the morning of April 19 last year after suffering a cardiac arrest.

She had been suffering from viral hepatitis since mid-February and had been in hospital after a liver biopsy in early April resulted in her suffering from internal bleeding, requiring her to recover in hospital.

Dr David Maxton, consultant gastroenterologist at the RSH, told an inquest at the Guildhall in Shrewsbury yesterday that Mrs Jones was discharged in the early hours of April 19.

But he said she returned to hospital "almost immediately", complaining of increasing abdominal pain.

Dr Maxton said Mrs Jones, who had a baby son and a six-year-old daughter, had been initially discharged on April 17, but came back to hospital again complaining of increasing abdominal pain.

He said said that she was discharged at 2.55am on April 19, but returned less than an hour later at 3.51am with the same symptoms.

She was moved to a resuscitation bay after becoming drowsy, but a cardiac arrest call was made shortly before 7am and despite concerted efforts to save her, she died in hospital shortly afterwards.

Dr Nigel Russell, Mrs Jones's GP, said he had spoken to her on April 18 when she had reported she was starting to feel better after a lengthy period of illness.

"She said she still had some mild discomfort but this was significantly better," he told the inquest.

" She was feeling generally better and very positive she was finally on the mend," he said.

Dr Russell said he had been "very shocked" to learn of Mrs Jones's death the following day.

"It came as a total surprise," he said.

Problems had started for Mrs Jones in mid-February last year when she developed mouth ulcers and also an itchy rash on her body.

She was later diagnosed with viral hepatitis, which causes liver inflammation – and Stevens–Johnson syndrome – a rare and serious skin condition.

Mrs Jones had jaundice and a persistent rash that was causing her sleeping difficulties.

With her condition stable but not disappearing, doctors decided to carry out a liver biopsy on April 4 to allow further tests to be done.

She was initially discharged from hospital after a standard six-hour recovery period.

But she returned to hospital later that evening. A CT scan that was not conducted until 14 hours later, on the following day, showed internal bleeding.

Mrs Jones was treated in hospital before being discharged later in the month, days before her death.

The inquest has been adjourned until a later date.

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