Pensioner dies after getting routine vitamin jab as nurse ‘failed to clean her skin’
A 77-year-old pensioner has died after receiving a routine vitamin B12 injection, which prompted a coroner to issue a warning regarding current skin cleaning guidelines.
Patricia Lines passed away less than a week after the jab was administered to her shoulder.
Assistant coroner Rebecca Sutton has called for “common sense” practices and recommended the use of alcohol wipes as a preventative measure.
The incident has raised concerns about the current national guidance, which does not require skin cleaning before injections unless “visibly dirty”.
Patricia Lines received the vitamin B12 injection on October 17 last year. Then, the following day, she became unwell and was taken to hospital, where she was diagnosed with a Strep A infection.
Despite medical efforts, her condition deteriorated, and she sadly died on October 23.
A post-mortem examination revealed that the injection site was likely the source of the invasive infection.
The inquest heard that the nurse who administered the injection did not clean Lines’ skin beforehand, as she was following current national guidance, which only requires cleaning for visibly dirty skin.
A jury concluded that the pensioner’s death was accidental, caused by septicaemic shock.
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As a result, assistant coroner Rebecca Sutton has raised concerns about the current medical guidelines for skin cleaning before injections.
In a Prevention of Future Death report, she highlighted that alcohol wipes are “relatively cheap” and do not pose significant risks.
Sutton pointed out that while the current guidance states cleaning with alcohol reduces bacterial count, it also claims that disinfecting does not affect bacterial complications. However, she noted this information is over 20 years old.
The coroner emphasised that “common sense would seem to suggest that reducing the bacterial count would reduce the risk of bacteria being inadvertently introduced into the deeper tissues during an injection.”
Now, following the coroner’s report, Sutton has urged health authorities to take action to prevent future deaths.
She has written to the UK Health Security Agency, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England, pressuring them to take action to prevent similar deaths in the future.
Sutton expressed the need for updated practices, stating that alcohol wipes are a “cheap” and risk-free way to prevent such incidents.
The recipients of the report must respond by December 20.