https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y7n63yjy8o

2 June 2026

Woman died after doctors missed bowel obstruction

A grandmother died after doctors missed repeated warning signs of a bowel obstruction and failed to provide an interpreter, leaving her unable to communicate intensifying pain, the health ombudsman has found.

Sevinc Ulkueri, 76, from Solihull, died after her bowel perforated and she developed sepsis, following delays in treatment at Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, in March 2021.

An investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found her death was avoidable and that earlier diagnoses and intervention would have saved her life. [...]

The trust also failed to meet Turkish-speaking Ulkueri's communication needs because it didn't provide an interpreter, it said.

Chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath KC added patients had a right to an interpreter and the NHS "must be accessible to everyone in need of care".

She said: "The failings in this case are some that we see far too often. Delayed reporting on scans, investigations that are not sufficiently thorough, and poor communication with patients and their families.

"Sevinc was unable to clearly express the severity and location of her pain because she was not given the support she needed and to which she was entitled."