Shropshire man collapsed and died after being wrongly sent home from hospital hours before
A man who collapsed and died at a petrol station had wrongly been sent home from hospital just hours before, it has emerged.
An inquest into the death of Geoffrey Thomas Brown heard he collapsed and died on a petrol station forecourt in Bridgnorth Road, Much Wenlock, on his way to a Shropdoc appointment on February 9 this year.
He had been admitted to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton earlier that day complaining of chest pain, but was sent away without a CT scan.
A report prepared by the hospital for the coroner set out what should have happened, and what actually happened. It identified several flaws in Mr Brown’s care.
John Ellery, senior coroner for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, said: “The trust is admitting things should have happened that did not happen.”
Mr Brown, from Highley, died later that day at the age of 66, when his partner Denise Matecki pulled in to refuel while driving him to a Shropdoc appointment.
'Ignored'
A statement from Dr Patrick Yiu, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the hospital, said the survival rates for hemopericardium, which killed Mr Brown, were “excellent” for patients in which it was diagnosed and treated promptly.
He said Mr Brown’s condition would have been picked up had he been given a CT scan of his heart, but this did not happen.
Ms Matecki said: “He did not see a doctor, he saw one male nurse. The nurse said it could be indigestion.
“He was completely ignored and sent away.”
Mr Ellery recorded a narrative conclusion, saying: “On the basis of the evidence provided by New Cross Hospital, I record that it was a natural cause of death which could have been prevented."
