Patient death: Hospital improvements contributed to fatality, coroner finds
A coroner has warned of the risks associated with tackling the NHS building maintenance backlog after a patient died after being moved outside of a main hospital unit for care.
Gareth Johnson, 41, died at University Hospital of Wales on 16 October 2024 because of complications following a catheter directed thrombolysis procedure.
“Following the procedure, Johnson was one of a small number of patients transferred out of the critical care unit to the post-anaesthetic care unit because of planned building maintenance works,” Kerrie Burge, coroner for South Wales Central, said.
A Prevention of Future Deaths report from the coroner, published on 19 September, says Johnson received “sub-optimal” postoperative drug management in part because he was cared for outside of the main unit. This “more than minimally, negligibly, or trivially contributed to Johnson’s death".
Source: BMJ, 26 September 2025