Sick student who rang GP 25 times a day died of sepsis
String of errors led to tragedy
A UNIVERSITY student who called his GP surgery 25 times in one day only to be refused an appointment died from sepsis, an inquest has heard.
Toby Hudson, 19, was unable to speak to anyone at the practice because its telephone system was faulty.
He eventually gave up and tried the next day. When he did get through a member of staff at the surgery in Weymouth, Dorset, told him he could not have an appointment for at least 48 hours.
The chemistry student had registered at another surgery in his university town of Southampton, Dorset Coroner’s Court heard.
He was told he could either wait two days to re-register in Weymouth or go to an urgent care walk-in centre. Toby went to the centre and was seen by a nurse practitioner, who wrongly diagnosed him with tonsillitis and gave him antibiotics.
Over the next 24 hours his condition deteriorated in front of his parents, who called 999 when he slipped into unconsciousness.
He went into cardiac arrest but was delayed in getting to hospital because an ambulance went to the wrong location. Toby died on the night of July 4, 2019, two days after he had first sought help.
A post-mortem examination showed he died from multiple organ failure due to sepsis, which was caused by glandular fever.
Sepsis, known as the ‘ silent killer’, develops when an infection such as blood poisoning sparks a violent immune response in which the body attacks its own organs.
The condition is notoriously difficult to diagnose until it has engulfed the body, but if it is caught early, antibiotics can control the infection. The Daily Mail launched the End the Sepsis Scandal campaign with the UK Sepsis Trust in 2016 to raise awareness of symptoms among patients and staff. Toby had been suffering from a cough for two months before he returned to his family home in Weymouth in the summer of 2019.
He had previously been a patient at the Wake Regis and Lanehouse Medical Practice in the town. Dr Matthew Brook, a partner in the practice, said: ‘We were having tremendous problems with our phone system which could not handle a much higher number of calls. We had updated it but it was not working correctly. In a lot of cases people were waiting a long time.’
He insisted the correct procedures had been followed in Toby’s case. According to national guidelines, temporary residents should only be seen by a GP if they do not require urgent care. ‘If they do require [an appointment] within 48 hours we refer them to the urgent care unit,’ he said.
Nurse practitioner Briony Jefferis, who examined Toby at the urgent care centre in Weymouth Community Hospital, said: ‘He did not show any signs of sepsis and his symptoms were consistent with those of tonsillitis. He was given penicillin and told to return if he did not feel an improvement. Neither myself nor the triage nurse were remotely worried.’
Toby’s father, Peter, said that on the day his son died he returned home to find him under a blanket on the sofa and looking pale. Toby then lost consciousness.
On the way to hospital he went into cardiac arrest in the ambulance and back-up had to be called for. The second crew of paramedics went to the family home, three miles from where the ambulance was. It was almost 15 minutes before they arrived at the correct spot. Toby died at the Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester.
Mr Hudson said: ‘I felt there was no urgency. I had to press for action to be taken and for our concerns to be heard.’
The inquest continues.