- NHS nurse Paula Ivers died three days after hospital discharge due to misdiagnosed heart attack
- Doctors at Tameside Hospital treated her chest pain as indigestion despite severe symptoms
- Paula suffered a thoracic aortic dissection causing internal bleeding and cardiac arrest
A National Health Service (NHS) nurse in the UK died just three days after being discharged from hospital, where doctors misdiagnosed her heart attack as indigestion, an inquest has heard. According to Metro, Paula Ivers, 47, from Tameside, Greater Manchester, had gone to the A&E department at Tameside Hospital in March 2024 complaining of 'crushing' and 'horrendous' chest pain, which she described to her partner as being "worse than childbirth."
Despite her severe symptoms and a family history of cardiac issues, she was directed to a Same Day Emergency Care unit. After a chest X-ray and blood tests showed nothing abnormal and her clinical observations were in a normal range, doctors reassured her the pain was "trapped wind" or indigestion and advised her to buy Gaviscon.
Three days later, she was found collapsed on her bedroom floor by her 9-year-old daughter. Paula had suffered a thoracic aortic dissection, a tear in the blood vessel which supplies the heart. It led to an internal bleed and cardiac arrest.
During the inquest held at Stockport Coroner's Court, it was revealed that her condition had been significantly underestimated, and the chest pain she reported was likely an early sign of a serious cardiac issue that went untreated.
The incident has raised concerns about the handling of chest pain symptoms in emergency departments, especially among women, whose heart attack symptoms are often misinterpreted.
Her family has accused the hospital of failing in its duty of care and diagnosis. Her sister, who is also a nurse, described the situation as a "cruel irony" that her sibling, a fierce advocate and defender of the NHS, was "let down in the worst way possible" when she needed it most, Manchester Evening reported.
Paula's husband added, "We were shocked to have lost her when we were told it was indigestion and there was nothing to worry about."
The inquest heard that Dr. Osama Ahmed, an emergency medicine consultant at Tameside, had reviewed Paula Ivers' ECG results but didn't examine her. He testified that he now recognizes she wasn't low-risk and should have been hospitaliSed immediately, though he noted that aortic dissection is a rare condition.
