蜜芽传媒

A man whose partner was discharged twice from A&E despite suffering 鈥渧iolent seizures鈥� says he believes she would 鈥渟till be here鈥� if her case had been dealt with more seriously.

Philip Creighton said epilepsy sufferer Jill had multiple seizures at home on Christmas Day and was taken to Harrogate District Hospital A&E on three separate occasions. In the first and second instances, she was discharged within a few hours because staff had not witnessed any subsequent seizures.

On the third occasion, Philip said he asked the doctor if he knew 鈥渢he seriousness of the situation,鈥� as Jill had briefly 鈥渟topped breathing鈥� beforehand, but 鈥渉e said no because he hadn鈥檛 read the ambulance notes鈥�.

The mother-of-one, 35, died in hospital in the early hours of Boxing Day after suffering another seizure, which led to a cardiac arrest.

Harrogate District Hospital has since apologised to Jill鈥檚 family and highlighted areas for improvement. They now have new guidelines for people who frequently attend A&E and have reviewed how they monitor high risk patients and handovers.

Since 2012, more than 2,100 A&E patients involved in 鈥減atient safety incidents鈥� were 鈥渟everely harmed鈥� and almost 700 of those incidents were linked to a patient's death, according to statistics from the National Reporting and Learning System.

In a statement, NHS England said front line services were treating more patients than ever: admitting or treating and discharging more than nine out of ten patients within four hours - a higher standard than any major western nation.

They added that through winter, pressure on health systems would be carefully monitored in order to spot problems early and take swift action where necessary.

This clip is originally from 5 live Investigates on Sunday 29 November 2015.

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