Man with broken back died after surgery delayed over fears he had virus

A PATIENT died after hospital staff delayed an operation on his broken back because they wrongly feared he had coronavirus, an inquest has heard.

Eric Vaughan, 68, was found by friends crying out for help after falling down stairs at his home in High Wycombe, Bucks, on March 23.

Mr Vaughan, who weighed more than 18 stone, was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for emergency surgery to repair his fractured spine.

But doctors delayed operating until the following day because they thought he might have Covid-19, and were lacking staff who had the necessary training and personal protective equipment, Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court heard. However, after Mr Vaughan’s death on March 24, test results revealed that he did not have the virus.

Dr Hitesh Dabasia, a consultant spinal surgeon who treated him, told the inquest: “Mr Vaughan was being treated as a suspected Covid case because of a history of a cough. From my examination, Mr Vaughan had clinical findings consistent with an incomplete spinal cord injury.

“I spoke with the on-call anaesthetist about Mr Vaughan’s feared Covid status. Additional staff would be needed before he could be operated on, as there was not a sufficient number of Covid staff.”

She said that Mr Vaughan’s condition rapidly deteriorated before he was due to go into surgery.

Crispin Butler, senior coroner for Buckinghamshire, concluded that Mr Vaughan died as a result of an accident, adding: “The clinical decision making here, and the suspicions about Covid-19 and need for PPE consideration would be quite appropriate at the time.”

The cause of Mr Vaughan’s death was said to be acute respiratory distress syndrome, caused by an unstable cervical spine fracture. Underlying causes were hypertension, atrial fibrillation, chronic alcohol intake and a high BMI, the inquest heard.