Interior designer Cheryl Cope from Haringey died because doctors 'missed signs of sepsis'

Cheryl Cope, who lived in Haringey, had flu-like symptoms for two weeks before being admitted to the Whittington Hospital in February this year.

But an inquest at Poplar's Coroners Court heard how the doctor who saw her became side-tracked as the A&E was short staffed and did not have enough free beds.

The 51-year-old was given antibiotics and put on a drip, but she was diagnosed with sepsis five hours later and died the following day.

Her husband, Jonathan, said: "Words cannot begin to explain the loss of my darling wife Cheryl. Her loss has left a massive hole in my life – we had so much more to do.

“I would like to thank my family and friends for supporting me over the course of the inquest."

Cheryl with her husband, Jonathan

He told the hearing he developed flu-like symptoms after returning from a business trip to France in February, and his wife was "three or four days behind him" symptom wise.

The day she was admitted, she was coughing so badly and needed to use the walls for support.

Addressing Jonathan during the hearing, coroner Jackie Devonshire, said: “Your wife presented with clear symptoms of sepsis. The hospital acknowledges this was not recognised.”

Mr Cope has now instructed medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate what happened.

He has made it his mission to raise awareness about sepsis, a blood poisoning condition which causes major organs to shut down.

In a statement, the Whittington Hospital said: "We would like to offer our deepest condolences to the family of Mrs Cheryl Cope.

"Following Mrs Cope’s tragic death, we conducted a full investigation into the emergency treatment we gave her when she came to the Whittington Hospital.

"We recognise that we did not treat Mrs Cope as quickly as we should have done, and we are extremely sorry for this. 

"The coroner found that due to the complexity of the case it was not possible to say whether Mrs Cope would have survived if treatment had been given promptly.

"We have, however, already taken significant steps to ensure that we learn from the important lessons identified from Mrs Cope’s death, and that all our patients with sepsis receive the immediate treatment that they need."