This week 30 years ago: Tragic mum hid infection from Whittington Hospital doctors

Doctors who sent a young mum home to die didn’t know she was suffering from a severe abdominal infection.

Patsy Williams, 20, died half an hour after being treated for breathing difficulties at Whittington Hospital.

But St Pancras Coroners’ Court heard Patsy, whose daughter, Natalie, was two years old, denied her abdominal problems to the doctor, telling him to “leave me alone”.

Patsy was discharged but collapsed at her mum’s house in the Andover Estate. She said: “Mum, I’m dying.” She was rushed back to the Whittington but died. Coroner Douglas Chambers recorded a verdict of death from natural causes.