A dog walker who sprained his ankle and died two weeks later, might have been saved if he had had a face-to-face doctor’s appointment, an inquest has heard.
The blood clot which eventually killed Callum Jones might have been discovered had his GP appointment not been over the phone.
His heartbroken mum Kim Jones spoke out after the investigation into his death. She said: "He could have been saved if he had been seen (by his GP) in person,” North Wales Live reported .
The 27-year-old had been out walking his dog with his family in Loggerheads Country Park, Wales, when it pulled on the lead and he slipped on a wooden bridge and injured his ankle, on October 3 last year.
Just over two weeks later he would collapse at home and die at the Countess of Chester Hospital, an inquest was told.
Speaking yesterday, a coroner branded the circumstances of the accident “absurd” and said he would be contacting the health board about how doctors communicate with their patients.
John Gittins, Senior Coroner for North Wales East and Central, heard how, after the slip, Callum was taken to Holywell Community Hospital then Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan, where he was diagnosed with a fractured ankle.
He was given crutches and a protective plastic boot. But eight days later he went back for another appointment where he was told he had badly-sprained ligaments and tendons.
Things took a turn for the worse two days after that when he began to have pains across his shoulder and chest, and found he was breathless.
Then, on October 15, he rang up his GP and was given a telephone consultation.
Over the course of their nine-minute phone conversation, Dr Chris Murphy, his GP, said that he diagnosed Callum with "pleuritic pain", a sharp chest pain.
Dr Murphy admitted to the inquest he was not aware that Callum was wearing an ankle boot at the time of the phone call.
Two days after his phone appointment, on October 17, Callum collapsed at his home, in Ewloe, north east Wales, and was rushed to hospital.
Medics tried to save his life but despite their best efforts he tragically died early the next day.
In a post-mortem examination it was found Callum died from a pulmonary embolism, a blocked blood vessel in his lung.
This came directly as a result of the immobility caused by his ankle injury.
Dr Murphy told the coroner he had been in “complete shock” when he learned Callum had died.
When asked, he admitted that had the meeting been face-to-face, he would have noticed the protective boot he was wearing and considered an alternative diagnosis which may have led to his blood clot being discovered.
The GP said there are now "a lot more face to face appointments in the afternoon" but it is still a pre-eminently telephone triage service.
On top of that, the inquest heard how Callum’s discharge letter only arrived at the GP surgery a “couple of weeks” after he had died.
The communication between primary and secondary care was described as a “constant thorn in our side”, the coroner concluded.
He said: "I am concerned when Dr Murphy says it's not unusual when it's some weeks after when we have the discharge letter.
“I will be asking the health board to report to me in three weeks to explain the length of time it takes currently for discharge letters (to be sent out)."
He said that if he finds at this point that the time frame represents a risk to other patients he said he would then be obliged to make a Regulation 28 ruling to prevent future deaths.
Callum had been described as a "gentle boy, kind and loving" by his mum. He had been a deputy retail manager at the Card Factory shop in Broughton retail park.
The coroner noted that after his death there had been an outpouring of love and support.
