THE identity of who faked a signature on an widow’s self- discharge note from a Yorkshire hospital may never be known, an inquest heard yesterday.
Wanda “Jenny” Murphy, 78, died last year more than two weeks after being taken to Dewsbury & District Hospital’s accident and emergency department by ambulance on
August 13.
In May this year Bradford Coroner’s Court heard disturbing evidence that following Mrs Murphy’s death on September 1 it had been discovered her signature had been forged on her self-discharge note.
Dr Rohit Sinha, a junior doctor who had examined Mrs Murphy on August 13, was interviewed by police officers after Mrs Murphy’s daughter, Fran Simpson, 47, claimed the signature on the note did not correspond with her mother’s usual writing.
Also interviewed regarding the forged signature was staff nurse Nichola Royal, 33, who had also been on duty at the hospital on the night and had been involved in Mrs Murphy’s treatment.
Both denied involvement in faking her signature and yesterday counsel for Miss Royal, Anthony Sugari, in his closing speech told coroner Roger Whittaker: “You were asked at the outset of this inquiry who did it. I would be urging you not to make that decision. I don’t see how you can on the evidence. You know what the handwriting evidence is.”
Mr Whittaker replied: “I don’t think there’s any evidence which would allow me to adjudicate as to who faked the signature.”
Earlier the court heard a statement from a forensic science expert Sarah Jane Ford, which was read out.
She said: “In my opinion the evidence provides very strong support that Mrs Murphy didn’t provide signature on the A&E report. Whether it was Nichola Royal or Rohit Sinha is inconclusive.”
In May the court heard that Mrs Murphy, from Brunswick Street, Westborough, Dewsbury, had cut short a holiday to Malta when she began feeling unwell.
She had a blackout on an escalator at Malta airport. She preferred not to get hospital treatment there, but at a Yorkshire hospital and flew home.
The court heard she suffered from numerous medical problems including angina, abdominal discomfort, nausea, chronic bronchitis and an anxiety disorder.
Dr Sinha, who had been at the hospital less than a fortnight when she attended on August 13, said that after examining her he was convinced that she needed to be admitted and began arrangements.
However, he claimed she changed her mind and told him that she did not want to stay in hospital after all.
He said he tried to explain the potential danger she was placing herself in but she was “adamant” that she wanted to leave, and he told her she would have to sign a self-discharge note.
But according to Mrs Simpson her mother was furious about being sent home by taxi in the early hours of the morning.
She was seen by her GP, Nadim Gafoor, the next day on August 14 and was readmitted to the hospital on the 17th.
Following her death on September 1, triggered by a fall at her home on August 19, questions started to be asked by the authorities about precisely what had happened at Dewsbury Hospital on August 13 .
Yesterday, counsel for Mrs Murphy’s family, George Thomas, said: “What has happened here is that on this isolated occasion that relationship of trust, (between patient and clinical staff) was broken at its very core.”
Mr Whittaker will give his verdict on Monday.
(c) 2008 Yorkshire Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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