Clinical Negligence Solicitors

West London Coroner’s Court has heard how a sailor bled to death at home, after being sent home from hospital with medication for back pain.

Guy Bessant was taken to A&E at Charing Cross Hospital after he developed abnormally high blood pressure while on the River Thames on 13 July, 2013.

However A&E nurses in triage – where cases are assessed for urgency – mistakenly sent Mr Bessant to an urgent care centre where GPs failed to diagnose Mr Bessant was suffering from “massive” internal bleeding and sent him home with medication for back pain. GPs had not seen Mr Bessant’s blood pressure reading, the inquest heard.

Mr Bessant –– a chartered surveyor who was a member of London Corinthian Sailing Club – was found dead at home in Wandsworth in southwest London by his sister Anna, having died from an aortic dissection – a tear in the main artery, the aorta.

Coroner Chinyere Inyama said that an erroneous referral had occurred at Charing Cross Hospital – and a “series of system failings” had contributed to Mr Bessant’s death.

He recorded a narrative verdict.

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust runs Charing Cross Hospital, but not the GP care centre Mr Bessant was sent to.

A spokesman for the trust says it now carries out checks before referring ambulance patients to the urgent care centre.

The trust is also at the centre of opposition to the downgrading of emergency services at Charing Cross Hospital.


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