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Family of Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey accuse doctors of 'major failings' Family of Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey accuse doctors of 'major failings'
(about 5 hours later)
The family of nurse Pauline Cafferkey have claimed doctors missed an opportunity to spot that she had fallen ill with an Ebola-related condition up to 24 hours before she was flown by military aircraft to the Royal Free hospital in London. The family of Pauline Cafferkey, the Scottish nurse who was diagnosed with Ebola in December and fell ill again last week with complications related to the disease, have accused NHS staff of “major failings”.
Toni Cafferkey said it was “absolutely diabolical” the way her sister, who contracted Ebola while volunteering in Sierra Leone last year, had been treated when she first reported feeling ill last week. Pauline Cafferkey was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth University hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday and was later flown by military aircraft to the Royal Free hospital in London. She spent three weeks in an isolation unit there at the start of the year after contracting Ebola while volunteering in Sierra Leone.
Pauline Cafferkey, 39, was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth university hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday and was later flown under supervision to the Royal Free, where she is being treated in an isolation unit. Her family have now claimed doctors missed an opportunity to diagnose that she had fallen ill with an Ebola-related condition up to 24 hours before it was eventually recognised.
Toni Cafferkey told the Sunday Mail that her sister had gone to an out-of-hours GP clinic at the New Victoria hospital in Glasgow on Monday night but the doctor who assessed her diagnosed a virus and sent her home. Toni Cafferkey said her sister went to an out-of-hours GP clinic at the New Victoria hospital in Glasgow on Monday night where the doctor who assessed her diagnosed a virus and sent her home.
She said: “At that point, me and my family believe they missed a big opportunity to give the right diagnosis and we feel she was let down. Instead of being taken into hospital, she spent the whole of Tuesday very ill.She said: “At that point, me and my family believe they missed a big opportunity to give the right diagnosis and we feel she was let down. Instead of being taken into hospital, she spent the whole of Tuesday very ill.
“It is absolutely diabolical the way she has been treated … We don’t know if the delays diagnosing Pauline have had an adverse effect on her health, but we intend to find out. It has not been good enough. We think there have been major failings and we just want her to pull through. This kind of recurrence seems to be rare but we don’t yet know enough about it.” “It is absolutely diabolical the way she has been treated … We don’t know if the delays diagnosing Pauline have had an adverse effect on her health, but we intend to find out. It has not been good enough.”
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde told the paper: “We can confirm that Pauline did attend the New Victoria hospital GP out-of-hours service on Monday. Her management and the clinical decisions taken based on the symptoms she was displaying at the time were entirely appropriate. All appropriate infection control procedures were carried out as part of this episode of care.” Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, she added: “We think there have been major failings and we just want her to pull through. This kind of recurrence seems to be rare but we don’t yet know enough about it.”
Cafferkey, from South Lanarkshire, was diagnosed with Ebola in December after returning to Glasgow from Sierra Leone via London. She was critically ill and spent almost a month in an isolation unit at the Royal Free hospital before being discharged in late January. Ebola has been shown to persist for weeks or even months in parts of the body and in body fluids. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We can confirm that Pauline did attend the New Victoria hospital GP out-of-hours service on Monday. Her management and the clinical decisions taken based on the symptoms she was displaying at the time were entirely appropriate. All appropriate infection control procedures were carried out as part of this episode of care.”
A statement from the Royal Free confirmed that Cafferkey had been transferred to the hospital “due to an unusual late complication of her previous infection by the Ebola virus”. A statement from the Royal Free confirmed that Cafferkey had been transferred to the hospital “due to an unusual late complication of her previous infection by the Ebola virus”, and she remained in a serious condition.
It said: “The Ebola virus can only be transmitted by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person while they are symptomatic, so the risk to the general public remains low and the NHS has wellestablished and practised infection-control procedures in place.” In a recent interview with ITV’s Lorraine Kelly about learning that she had the virus, Cafferkey said: “Outwardly I just tried to be stoical about everything but inside, obviously, I was very frightened.
“I knew it could have gone three ways – it could have been mild, it could have been severe, which it was with me, and it could have been death, the other outcome which I came very close to.”