NHS nurse, 47, died of heart attack three days after being sent home from hospital with 'trapped wind'
Paula Ivers was told she had "trapped wind" and was advised to buy a bottle of Gaviscon, days before her death
An NHS nurse died three days after she was discharged from hospital where she was told a heart attack was trapped wind, an inquest has heard.
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Paula Ivers was found collapsed on the floor of her bedroom by her nine-year-old daughter in March 2024, at their home in Tameside, Greater Manchester.
Ms Ivers, 47, had suffered a tear in her aorta, which resulted in a heart attack and she was later pronounced dead.
An inquest into her death was opened at Stockport Coroner's Court which heard she had been experiencing "horrendous" chest pain that was "worse than childbirth" when she was previously taken to Tameside Hospital A&E.
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However, she was told it was "not coming from the heart" and was later sent home.
Her family have accused the hospital of failing her when it came to care and diagnosis, Manchester Evening News reports.
In a statement given to the hearing, Paula's partner Simon Norbury said she was "struggling to breathe" as he took her to the hospital and had expected her to be kept in given her symptoms.
But she was instead sent to the Same Day Emergency Care Unit for patients who don't require hospital admission.
She told a doctor her pain was "severe" which she rated as an "eight or nine out of ten," her partner said.
But following a chest X-ray and blood tests, they were reassured it wasn't coming from the heart and were told it was simply trapped wind, and to buy a bottle of Gaviscon before being sent home.
The inquest heard that over the next three days, Ms Ivers' pain persisted and Mr Norbury said she "struggled to sleep" and was also feeling pain in her back and neck.
She then suffered a thoracic aortic dissection which led to the fatal heart attack.
In his statement, Mr Norbury said: "We were shocked to have lost her when we were told it was indigestion and there was nothing to worry about."
The inquest was told that her clinical observations were in a "normal range" while her ECG and chest X-Ray revealed nothing abnormal.
Dr Osama Ahmed, a consultant in emergency medicine at Tameside, didn't examine Paula nor was he aware of her family history but she was still deemed low risk.
Ms Ivers had a history of cardiac arrests in the family as her father had died of a "cardiac case" in his early to late 40s, the inquest heard.
Dr Ahmed admitted to the coroner that she should not have been sent to the Same Day Emergency Care Unit.
Ms Ivers' sister, Lesley, also a nurse, said her sibling was "passionate about providing the best care possible."
Lesley added: "She was a caring, smart, determined and loyal person. She was always at the heart of our family and lit up a room whenever she was around.
"It is a cruel irony that Paula was a fierce advocate and defender of the NHS, yet when she needed it most, she was let down in the worst way possible."
The inquest has been adjourned to a later date.