Hospital apologises for angina error

Mr Morgan was taken to hospital three times in a week

A Wolverhampton man who died hours after being discharged from hospital died of natural causes aggravated by neglect, an inquest has ruled.

An inquest jury at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court was told John Morgan had been rushed to the city's New Cross Hospital three times in seven days in July 2001.

On the third occasion, the inquest heard that a locum doctor failed to spot signs of acute angina from a heart monitor.

Mr Morgan, 52, was discharged and died later at home.

'Rectify error'

His wife, Margaret Morgan, said: "He was holding his chest when I went with him in the ambulance.

"I had a shock when they sent him home. I could not go into the cubicle or nothing. They told me to sit out in a chair."

The hospital has apologised over its failure to diagnose Mr Morgan's angina.

Mark Hackett, chief executive at the hospital, said the locum senior house officer had received good training in both accident and emergency medicine and in general medicine, but clearly had made a tragic mistake.

He told the BBC's Midlands Today programme: "Following the error that we discovered, we've actually looked at all our processes and procedures within the A&E and we have taken action to rectify an error occurring in future."

The doctor in question no longer works at New Cross Hospital.

Mr Morgan, a Wolves fanatic who lived near the Molineux ground, would have celebrated his silver wedding with his wife this year.