MEDICS TOOK 1HR TO TREAT STUDENT, SAYS MUM
TEENAGER Shante Turay-thomas died from allergic shock after waiting an hour for an ambulance and her adrenaline injector allegedly failed to work.
Shante, 18, was about to start a law degree at University of Sussex when she had a reaction to food thought to contain hazelnuts.
Her grieving mum Emma, 46, believes her death could have been avoided had the ambulance arrived a lot sooner.
She is also asking if the adrenaline injector – which has been the subject of a safety alert after two faults were discovered – may have contributed to Shante’s death.
A three-day inquest starting tomorrow will examine a number of alleged failings, including the response by the NHS 111 helpline.
On the night of September 14 last year Shante felt unwell and her mum called 111.
Shante tried to use her Emerade adrenaline auto-injector pen but it allegedly did not work.
Shante’s family also claim one ambulance was sent to the wrong address – and an ambulance did not arrive until an hour later.
Shante was eventually taken to hospital, but died shortly after arriving with her mum and 23-year-old sister at her bedside.
The family was told an ambulance was going to their home in Haringey, north London, but instead 111 controllers directed the ambulance service to her gran’s house six miles away. By the time an ambulance arrived at the right address, Shante was already unconscious.
It is claimed NHS 111 had graded the call as a category 3 emergency with an ambulance response time of two hours.
It later raised it to a category 2 call to be dealt with in 18 minutes.
But at a preliminary hearing at St Pancras Court in North London last week it was heard that the NHS 999 service deals with all anaphylactic shocks as category 1 emergencies that need to be answered in seven minutes.
The first fault with the adrenaline injector was found by its makers in June last year and centred on the needle becoming blocked.
The second fault was that the needle did not release when the injector was pressed.
Emma, who is represented by solicitor Jill Paterson from law firm Leigh Day, said: “We are devastated we will not be able to see her grow from the amazing girl that she was, into the accomplished adult she was becoming.”
Injector distributors Bausch &Lomb said the initial fault was thought to affect less than a quarter of one per cent of the devices.
Information about the faults was communicated promptly to the Government’s Medicines Health and Regulatory Agency.
The agency and the NHS 111 service declined to comment before the inquest.
PRINCE Harry gives another point to South Africa when he met the team after their crushing 32-12 defeat of England in the Rugby Union World Cup final yesterday.
The prince posed with the Springboks’ Lood de Jager, 26, in Japan while England, including bloodspattered Billy Vunipola, 26, licked their wounds.