Woman died of heart failure after hospital discharge

Nadine Wagstaff died just hours after being discharged from the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading

A NEWBURY woman collapsed and died from heart failure just hours after being discharged from hospital, an inquest in Newbury heard yesterday (Wednesday).

The hearing was told how 37-year-old Nadine Wagstaff, who suffered from learning difficulties, was taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on Christmas Day after her family raised the alarm.

Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford heard how Miss Wagstaff suffered from Noonan's Syndrome, a genetic disorder that caused congenital heart defects.

The inquest heard how she lived at Pelham House, a supported living hostel in London Road, Newbury, but was close to her mother, Janet Stevens, and step-father, Terry Steven.

On Christmas Day her mother discovered her daughter unwell in bed at the family home at 9.34am.

She said in a statement: “Nadine's voice was very weak. She appeared to be in a deep sleep. We tried putting her in a sitting position but she fell back. She could not hold her own weight.

“Her lips were blue. She found it difficult to open her eyes.”

Paramedics took her to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, where it was discovered she had a temperature due to a viral infection.

However, all other tests were normal, the inquest heard.

Miss Wagstaff was prescribed anti biotics for the infection and was sent home to Pelham House at about 4pm.

However, by 8pm her condition deteriorated and she died shortly afterwards.

Ippala Reddy, consultant at the RBH, who in consultation with a locum registrar and Mrs Stevens, decided that Miss Wagstaff was well enough to be sent home, said: “It is quite unlikely that a hospital admission would have changed the outcome because it would have been sudden.

“It is quite possible that because of the viral infection she had been compromised. Maybe the heart was under too much stress and strain.”

The court also heard that Miss Wagstaff was waiting for results from an x-ray and blood test carried out at St Marys Road GP Surgery on December 14 that would later reveal she had mild to moderate heart failure caused by a structural defect in her heart.

Mr Bedford gave a narrative verdict which concluded that Miss Wagstaff died due to a combination of three factors: Noonan's syndrome with associated congenital heart problems, a viral infection and an undetected heart defect.