Man dies of sepsis after hospital fails to remove cannula
He was discharged with the cannula in his arm, leading to infection at the site: coronial findings
A 76-year-old Tasmanian man, who left hospital with a cannula still in his arm, died from sepsis due to the “very basic error”, a coroner’s report has found.
Jack Hedley Martin, who had diabetes and dementia, had attended Mersey Community Hospital, in Latrobe, near Davenport, on 29 November 2018, to have a skin lesion removed from his left forearm.
Mr Martin, a father-of-four, had preoperative hypoglycaemia, so a left-sided antecubital fossa intravenous cannula was inserted, said Coroner Simon Cooper in his finding.
The lesion was removed, and he was discharged the same day, but the cannula was still in place — although hospital records indicated it had been removed.
