A WIDOW has been awarded an undisclosed six-figure sum in compensation for the catalogue of errors made by hospital staff before her husband died.

Gloria Haworth broke down in tears as she recalled how her husband John died while in the care of a doctor at Royal Blackburn Hospital.

The 68-year-old said she took the action to ensure no-one else had to suffer the same ‘living nightmare’ she had experienced.

Mr Haworth was taken to the hospital when he developed a sore throat and became violently sick after an evening meal.

But once there Mrs Haworth said the 58-year-old had to wait and was sent to the wrong department where staff failed to give him the correct treatment.

He collapsed and died in front of his wife less than two hours after being admitted.

An inquest, which heard he was a fit and healthy man, said he died from an acute, anaphylactic allergic reaction, which left him struggling to breathe.

Gloria, of Ringwood Close, Altham, said: “The events are still so clear because I relive them every day.

“I had to make a stand because I wanted justice for John.

“It was horrendous. Even though the paramedics were saying it was an allergic reaction. Nobody seemed to recognise the symptoms.

“A triage nurse sent us from A&E to the urgent care centre and a waiting room.

“John’s neck was swelling up but the reception nurse told me to wait our turn.”

Mr Haworth was admitted at 1.40am on March 6, 2009.

An hour later he was seen by Dr Emmanuel Ajuwon, who asked him what was wrong, but the dad-of-two could not speak.

Mrs Haworth said: “He came in and out of the cubicle and asked John questions but by this time he couldn’t talk, so I was answering for him.

“He came back 10 minutes later, asked John to lie down on the table and put a wooden spatula down his throat.

“John sat up and started to gag and I said ‘it looks like he’s having a panic attack’. That’s when John collapsed in front of me.

“The doctor had abruptly walked out of the cubicle.

“I ran out screaming for help. That was the last time I saw John alive.”

The cause of Mr Haworth’s allergic reaction could not be found by a post mortem examination and the inquest in June 2009 recorded a narrative verdict.

Mrs Haworth enlisted the help of solicitors and now East Lancashire Hospitals has admitted that the care provided by its staff to Mr Haworth fell below expected standards.

Her lawyers in a statement said the trust had conceded that it breached its duty of care owed to him by:

• Transferring him to the urgent care centre when this was inappropriate

• Failing to recognise promptly that his condition was deteriorating

• Failing to return him to the emergency department following triage in the urgent care centre

• Failing to summon anaesthetic assistance sufficiently promptly once it became clear that his upper airway was in peril

According to Woodcocks Solicitors, medical evidence confirmed that when the doctor placed the spatula on Mr Haworth’s tongue and caused the gag reflex his airway closed.

The trust also accepted that had the patient been reviewed by an anaesthetist in A&E prior to his respiratory arrest, they would have prevented this obstruction and re-established ventilation of the lungs before he suffered cardiac arrest or brain damage.

Mrs Haworth said: “They have admitted liability. John would still be here if they had done their job properly.

“I miss him so much and I’m so lonely without him.

“I would hate this to happen to anybody else or for anyone to have to go through what I’ve been through.”

The grandmother-of-two, who used to live and work in Ramsbottom, praised the support of her family including her daughter Adele, 44, and son Jon, 34.

She said: “I’ve had to see psychiatrists and counsellors and I’m on medication. If it wasn’t for my daughter, I wouldn’t be here today.

“John was my soul mate, he did more or less everything for me and I didn’t want for anything.

“This money is not going to bring John back. I would give it all away to have him back.

“The memories are so painful. I feel like I have lost my past and I have no future.”

Pam Roberts, of Woodcocks Solicitors, said helping Mrs Howarth get the answers she needed from the trust had been the firm’s main aim.

She said: “No amount of money would compensate Gloria for her loss and it has always been her wish that the hospital accepts its failure and learns from its mistakes.”

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said it was unable to comment.