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Patricia Fowler, 75, died after she was not seen by a hospital consultant for three days

A grandmother who was admitted to hospital with a broken arm died after she was left on a ward for three days without seeing a consultant.

Patricia Fowler, 75, was not assigned to a doctor at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Lancashire, because she was overlooked by a secretary who mistook her for another patient, an inquest heard.

There was confusion over who was caring for Mrs Fowler and she was left to grow increasingly ill on a cardiac ward, even after her son raised concerns over her health.

Mrs Fowler was eventually seen by doctors three days after being transferred to the ward but by that point had developed pneumonia and sepsis, which led to her death.

The case prompted an internal investigation and an inquest. The hospital admitted liability but Mrs Fowler's family wants more to be done.

Son Scott Fowler said: 'Quite simply, my mum died because she went into that hospital. We all know that at some point we will lose our parents, but we expected my mum - who was perfectly well - to be here for years and years.

'You don't die from a broken arm. You die from pneumonia and sepsis and she got those because she was left on that ward without doctors' reviews.

There was confusion over who was caring for Mrs Fowler (pictured in 2009) and she was left to grow increasingly ill on a cardiac ward, even after her son raised concerns over her health

'If she had been seen, or a nurse had noticed she hadn't been seen, she would still be here now.'

Mrs Fowler, a mother of four, was admitted to hospital on January 4 after attending A&E with a broken arm. 

She was discharged on January 6 but readmitted on January 9 after being referred by her GP with hyponataemia - low sodium - and worsening back pain. 

She was transferred to a cardiac ward in the early hours of January 10. 

Mrs Fowler was seen by a doctor in the fracture clinic on January 12 but was not attended by a consultant on the cardiac ward until January 13, three days after she was transferred.

A serious incident report into the case, published in April, detailed how Mrs Fowler was seen following an 'acute deterioration'. She was then transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ITU) with severe sepsis and placed on a ventilator. 

Scott Fowler said: 'Going into hospital killed my mother. The grief we all feel has devastated us and the personal guilt I feel is immense. 

Missed: Grandmother Mrs Fowler, pictured with her late husband Brian, who died in 2006

Mrs Fowler, pictured on holiday with her late sister Sheila, was overlooked on the cardiac ward

'She died on Wednesday 15 and I went into the hospital on the Tuesday night to see her - she looked terrible.

'I went up to the desk to tell someone and they just told me that she was tired and she'd be feeling better after a night's rest.

'You know as a family when someone you love isn't well and I knew something wasn't right. The fact I didn't push it or demand they do something is guilt I'm struggling to cope with.'

An internal investigation heard there was confusion over who was responsible for Mrs Fowler's care

In a statement to the coroner, Angela Russell, medical secretary in the Care of the Elderly department, described how Mrs Fowler was overlooked when she arrived.

She said patients' names were shared on an email list but there were no hospital numbers, NHS numbers or dates of birth. 

Ms Russell added: 'In this particular case there had been a patient with the same forename, which appeared in exactly the same place on the emailed list.

'When going through the list, it was not obvious that the patient's surname had changed. I did not notice this and neither did any of the Care of the Elderly consultants.'

Anaesthetist Dr Matthew Bowker told the internal investigation how he had expressed concerns after Mrs Fowler wasn't 'reviewed by a member of her medical team' from the time she was moved onto the cardiac ward until three days later.

Another member of hospital staff, Matthew Bowker, told the investigation there was 'obviously no proper handover of care between medical shifts', and said: 'It could be argued that had a proper timely review taken place, the severity of her deterioration could have been prevented and she may have avoided admission to intensive care.'

Another medic, Dr Anju Mirakhur, also described the confusion over who was responsible for Mrs Fowler's care.  

Mrs Fowler was not assigned to a doctor at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Lancashire, pictured, because she was overlooked by a secretary who mistook her for another patient

He said Mrs Fowler was assigned to the Care of the Elderly team but was only seen after several calls were made to doctors on January 13. 

The grandmother-of-five died on January 15. A post mortem examination ruled the cause of death as sepsis and pneumonia, with her broken arm a contributing factor.

The hospital said lessons will be learned from the fatal error and its chief executive, Wendy Swift has written to Mrs Fowler's family to apologise for the incident.

In a statement released on Friday, the trust said: 'Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has admitted liability in this matter and has passed on its sincere condolences and apologies to Mrs Fowler's family.

'A full investigation was carried out into the circumstances of Mrs Fowler's hospital journey and a number of changes have been implemented as a result of the findings of that investigation.'