A patient died after calling 999 from his hospital bed as staff 'refused' his desperate plea for oxygen, an inquest has been told.
Evan Nathan Smith had been suffering from sepsis following a procedure to remove his gallbladder stent.
The 21-year-old football stats analyst was also battling sickle cell disease, reports The Mirror.
Sickle cell disease is particularly common in people with an African or Caribbean family background and can cause problems blocking blood vessels, according to the NHS.
Oxygen is routinely used to treat low blood oxygen saturation but it was not forthcoming, MyLondon reports.
But before dying in April 2019 the 21-year-old told family he called an ambulance as he was convinced it was the only way he would get help.
It comes after medics at North Middlesex Hospital told Mr Smith he did not need oxygen when he requested it in the early hours of April 23.
Now Barnet Coroner’s Court heard how he might have survived if he had been offered a blood transfusion sooner, but the haematology team were not informed he had been admitted.
The inquest into his death is due to conclude on April 6.
He was being held in a “lodger” bed – a bed added to a ward for extra capacity – and did not have access to oxygen or a call bell.
When he was seen by a haematologist later that day, he was prescribed oxygen but he was already in the early stages of sickle cell crisis.
He suffered a series of cardiac arrests on the night of April 24 and was confirmed as having died at 5.55am on April 25.
A pathologist found his cause of death to be multiple organ dysfunction and cerebral infarction.
Dr Arne De Kreuk, a consultant haematologist who had previously treated Mr Smith at North Middlesex, was not informed of his patient’s presence in the hospital until the evening of April 20 – two days after he was admitted.
Dr De Kreuk said he would have “appreciated” being informed of Mr Smith’s admission sooner, adding: “With sickle cell disorder, time does matter.”
Martin Forde QC, for Mr Smith’s family, said: “Do you think that had a transfusion been given when the symptoms appeared on April 23 then the outcome would have been different?”
Dr De Kreuk replied: “On the balance of probabilities, I would say yes.”
When asked if he thought a community such as North Middlesex with a high prevalence of sickle cell disease should expect a dedicated ward for the condition, he said: “I totally agree.”
Mr Forde asked if there was any evidence to suggest Mr Smith’s complaints of acute pain might have been ignored because of his ethnic minority background.
“I’m very aware of this issue – especially in patients presenting at A&E when pain is not always taken seriously, but I’m not aware of any evidence in Mr Smith’s case that this was an issue,” Dr De Kreuk said.
Fellow haematologist Dr Joydeep Roy – the doctor who eventually prescribed Mr Smith the oxygen – said he had “impressed” upon the staff that it was vital he be offered it.
He agreed that he would have mandated a blood transfusion sooner if the haematology team had been aware of Mr Smith’s presence in the hospital.
Coroner Andrew Walker said: “It seems to me that if a patient is identified as having a sickle cell disease, it should be flagged up to the haematology team.”
He added: “A member of that team should be available should a patient show signs of sickle cell crisis.”
Dr Roy said: “I would completely agree. At no point earlier in the week had I been informed. I would have liked to have been informed.”
Mr Walker suggested that haematologists at North Middlesex “should be called upon much more routinely than they perhaps are” and not seen as a hyper-specialised team.
The inquest is due to conclude on April 6.
