‘Our son would be alive if a GP had seen him’
Student’s parents condemn NHS 111 ‘shambles’ after four online consultations miss chances to save his life
THE parents of a law student who died from meningitis have criticised the “shambolic” NHS 111 service, claiming he would still be alive if he were not denied a face-to-face appointment.
David Nash, a 26-year-old mature student and musician, had four remote consultations with doctors and nurses at a Leeds GP practice over a 19-day period before he died on Nov 4 last year.
None of the clinicians spotted that he had developed mastoiditis in his ear which caused a brain abscess, sparking meningitis, his family have claimed.
They believe their “caring, charismatic and funny” son would not have died if he had been seen face to face by a GP.
His parents, Andrew and Anne, want to know whether the mastoiditis would have been spotted and easily treated with antibiotics if their son had undergone a face-to-face examination at his first appointment at the Burley Park Medical Centre on Oct 14.
The couple, from Nantwich, Cheshire, believe subsequent phone consultations were further missed opportunities to diagnose their son’s life-threatening condition. They said that when Mr Nash deteriorated dramatically on Nov 2, he and his partner, Ellie, had five “shambolic” calls with the NHS 111 system – including one which categorised his presentation as “dental” – culminating in him being taken to St James’s Hospital, in Leeds, by ambulance.
Once at the Emergency Department, they said, he was left alone, despite being in a confused and serious state, and fell, causing an injury to his head.
He died two days later despite efforts to save him by neurosurgeons at Leeds General Infirmary.
His father, Mr Nash, 56, said: “The mastoiditis is readily treatable with modern antibiotics and it should never have been left to get to the stage where it caused the complication of a brain abscess. He should never had gone to A&E in that condition. It is something that should have been sorted out way before then and, having approached his GP practice on four occasions, not to see him I think is the primary reason that they failed to recognise his condition and treat it.”
Mr and Mrs Nash are paying thousands of pounds for an independent neurosurgeon to investigate how their son died and hope an inquest starting in Wakefield on Nov 30 will provide answers. They also would like a change in attitude from GPS towards face-toface consultations.
Mrs Nash, 59, said: “They should be opening up – triaging, but seeing patients appropriately. I think the public fear is that they’re never going to return now to seeing people.”
Both the GP practice and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs St James’s Hospital, said they were unable to comment before the inquest.
An NHS spokesperson said it offered “sincere condolences” to Mr Nash’s family and would respond to any findings from the coroner. “Every GP practice must provide face-to-face as well as telephone and online appointments, as part of making primary care as accessible as possible,” they said.
Last week, ministers said patients would be given a new right to demand face-to-face appointments and that GP surgeries that fail to provide appropriate access would be named and shamed.