A pensioner died in hospital after an alert from his heart monitor was "silenced" by a member of staff, an inquest was told.

John Follon, 78, died after a lead from his heart monitor became disconnected, triggering an alarm at the nurses' station that was then switched off.

Mr Follon did not speak to a staff member for another 30 minutes and was left without the monitor working for an hour and three quarters, a coroner's court was told.

He was later found to be "unresponsive" in a state of cardiac arrest and later died.

The cause of Mr Follon's cardiac arrest could not be established because of the heart monitor lead becoming detached, the coroner said.

Mr Follon visited his GP with "chest pains and breathlessness" on Nov 17 2022, where tests revealed he had suffered a blockage in his right coronary artery.

He was taken to The University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff where he underwent "successful stenting" to remove the occlusion.

The inquest heard that he "made good progress" after the procedure and was "independently caring for himself on the ward".

But, a newly-installed monitor showed a "complete heart block" and a decision on whether he required a permanent pacemaker depended upon the extent of his recovery, it was heard.

Mr Follon's progress was subsequently tracked on the coronary care unit by telemetry, a monitor that displays a patient's heart rhythm and activity at a central nurse's station.

At 6.57am on Nov 21, one of the leads became "disconnected", which triggered an alarm at the nurses' station.

This alarm was "acknowledged" at 7.04am and then "silenced by a staff member".

The evidence suggests that the person did not check on Mr Follon at that time, the coroner said.

The pensioner was last spoken to around 30 minutes later, at 7.30am, before he was found "unresponsive" in a state of cardiac arrest at 8.45am.

Attempts to resuscitate Mr Folton were unsuccessful.

In a prevention of future deaths report, Coroner Gaynor Kynaston highlighted "matters of concern" relating to Mr Follon's death, warning the Cardiff & Vale University Health Board that others may die in "similar circumstances".

Mr Kynaston said while changes to the system "have been made" since Mr Follon's death - including making the alarm sound louder - it is still possible for hospital staff to "silence the alarm without checking on the patient".

Mr Kynaston said when the alarm is triggered during a day shift, staff are required to check on the patient prior to the alarm being silenced.

But, during a night shift, staff are permitted to "silence the alarm prior to checking the patient to reduce noise to a minimum while patients are sleeping".

He said this means that if the alert then goes "unnoticed", the risk that they will not be monitored for a lengthy amount of time "remains".

"The latter was the position in the instant case when Mr Follon's lead became detached," he said.

The coroner also said that the monitors "are not checked constantly" and that if a patient's alarm is silenced, "the risk that a patient will not be monitored for a significant period of time remains".

He issued the report to Cardiff & Vale University Health Board, who have until Dec 8 to respond.