A ‘traumatised’ son has criticised practice at a local hospital after his mother’s do not resuscitate form (DNAR) was signed without his permission.

Mary Bloom had lived in Eastern Avenue, Wanstead for over 50 years and was 89 when she passed away at Queens Hospital in Romford in February.

An inquest on October 30 found she died of ‘natural causes’ relating to end-stage dementia, but her son Bernard has criticised the findings after a London Ambulance report found her blood glucose levels were at a dangerous 17.4 mmol/L.

Despite the readings being high enough to put her in a diabetic coma Mr Bloom maintains his mother was not given any Insulin to bring this down.

The inquest heard Mrs Bloom was not weighed and no blood was taken, as is standard practice, before she was given a double dose of a blood thinner called Heparin.

It was also found had an expert haematologist been spoken to they were likely to have advised a reduced dose.

Bernard Bloom said: “The hospital is under special measures and it is horrifying something happened like this, I have deep concerns that it is going on unabated.

“I don’t want to scapegoat or blame anyone, I am not a vengeful person- it just needs to be addressed, my family want the truth.

“My mother was seen by so many people at both King George’s and then Queen’s but she was left untreated for hours just waiting on a stretcher.

When Mr Bloom arrived to check on his mother on February 3 he ordered doctors to fully resuscitate her but a DNAR form was signed off without his consent as next-of-kin.

He said: “It is a betrayal of trust. I made the doctor sign her forms with fully resuscitate and it was implicit they would do everything they can to keep her alive.

“But as soon as they put the phone down they signed it do not resuscitate without ever telling me.”

At the inquest Mr Gabriel Sayer, who signed the form as consultant to Mrs Bloom, confirmed that ultimately the issue of resuscitation is a decision for the doctors to take.

As well as considering the rights of the family, Mr Sayer said he was taking into account the rights of the patient after he found CPR was likely to result in significant damage to the chest and lungs and Mrs Bloom would not have been able to withstand the further ‘insult’.

The coroner found that Mrs Bloom had been given an overdose of Heparin, used to treat Deep Vein Thrombosis, after doctors failed to take her extreme weight loss into account.

“My mum never liked taking medication, she was always aware of the dangers of becoming reliant on them for her mood swings”, Mr Bloom said.

“But when she was given this Heparin she was unconscious and unaware of her condition.

“I mean if this had happened in a field hospital in Vietnam it would have been bad- but this is our hospital.”

“When I was called in before midnight I just knew she was dead, even though they refused to tell me on the phone. I was too upset to see her, Rigor Mortis had made her stiff as a board.

“I was totally traumatised. Her mouth was stuck open wide and she had been left on her own, I'm still asking why she wasn't given Insulin? I want to scream it from the rooftops.”

“Diabetes isn’t like Ebola, or some rare disease which no-one has a cure for. It is one of the biggest killers in the western world.”

Clinical Lead at the trust Dr Claire Bates, when questioned about the DNAR form by the coroner, confirmed that it is recognised that doctors have some difficulties with end of life conversations and there is a “great deal of work” ongoing to improve communication.

Improvements already implemented include a new form which requires clear justification for any decision, as well as a clear section requiring discussion with the family.

Matthew Hopkins chief executive of BHRUT who run Queen Mary's hospital, said: “We always act in the best interests of the patient.

"Mrs Bloom was unfortunately an acutely unwell 89-year-old lady. We made sure that she was comfortable and did not suffer unnecessarily.

“We will make sure that all of our staff are complying with our policy on the administration of heparin, and introduce a tailored IV infusion chart to help with this.

“We are also reviewing the information given to staff about how to administer heparin, making sure that the information is clear.”