A City worker died of organ failure after a hospital receptionist decided she only required minor treatment at a South London Hospital, an inquest heard.

Madhumita Mandal, 30, died four days later from sepsis and multi-organ failure after being referred to the urgent care unit by the receptionist instead of the NHS casualty unit at Croydon University Hospital A & E.



Mrs Mandal had been rushed to A&E by her husband, Prabhanjan Behera, after vomiting for more than four hours.

Mr Behera had pleaded with receptionist, Triveni Dhavade, for his wife to be seen by a nurse as she continued to vomit in the waiting room, reported the Evening Standard.

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He also explained to Mrs Dhavade that she suffered from endemetriosis and was booked surgery to remove cysts in a few days.

Mrs Dhavade trained as a pharmacist in India, never practiced and had worked as a hospital receptionist for 17 years. Her only qualification in the is as a mortgage adviser.

During an inquest into the tragic death, Mrs Dhavade said: ‘I wasn’t to know that she was that sick.’

Mrs Mandal was finally taken to the emergency room one and half hours after she checked in.

Dr Jessica Davies, the first doctor who saw her, told the inquest that she felt that the emergency department registrar, Dr Ademola Tokan-Lawal delayed calling in the medical team because he ‘really did not understand how unwell she was.’

The inquest continues.