Spennymoor man with Covid died after delay in blood clot diagnosis

A coroner found ‘neglect’ contributed to Alan Hodgson’s death as there were delays in undergoing emergency surgery for a blockage to his aorta, which reduced blood flow to his legs and right kidney.

The severity of the 61-year-old’s condition was not recognised by medics at University Hospital of North Durham despite ‘numerous interactions’ with him by staff.

Alan's wife, Diane, 64, has called for lessons to be learned from the failures in her husband's care.

She said: “While it’s more than three years since Alan died the pain our family continues to face each day is as raw now as it was when he died.

“While he went into hospital with Covid we never could have imagined the chain of events that unfolded.

“When I was told he had a blood clot and his condition was serious, I couldn’t believe it. From there everything seemed to move so quickly.

“Someone’s feet being blue would be a concern to your average person, let alone medical professionals so we still struggle to understand how the seriousness of his condition wasn’t picked up and how more senior medics didn’t intervene earlier.”

Alan, on the right, with his family (Image: Contributor) Alan, of Spennymoor, who developed Covid two days after Christmas in 2020, was reviewed by a junior doctor on January 7, 2021, after he reported that he had had pain in his legs and hips for about eight hours.

The junior doctor could not feel a pulse in his legs and health bosses accepted he should have been reviewed by a senior medic following legal submissions by expert medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell.

But a registrar believed the dad-of-three and grandad-of-six’s condition was connected to Covid-related muscle pain so did not review him.

Instead, they listed Alan for a consultant review later that morning.

A consultant suspected Alan, a sales manager, had a blood clot and requested an urgent CT scan just after 11.30am.

The scan was completed around four hours later and after diagnosis Alan’s case was referred to a specialist vascular surgeon at Sunderland Royal Hospital for his opinion at around 7.20pm that day.

The surgeon said they wanted Alan to arrive for surgery within one hour but it was about five hours before he got there.

He faced a wait of more than three hours for an ambulance to arrive at North Durham Hospital because ward staff requested an inappropriate response level.

Alan underwent emergency surgery to restore blood flow to his legs.

However, his condition continued to deteriorate and he died two days later as a result of organ failure following reduced blood flow to his bowel and a blocked aorta.

Following Alan’s death in January 2021, his wife instructed specialist medical negligence lawyers to help investigate and secure answers.  

After an inquest in 2022 concluded Alan died of ‘natural causes contributed to by neglect’, Sunderland Coroner Derek Winter, issued a prevention of future deaths report.

He called on County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, which runs University Hospital of North Durham, to set out what measures it would take to improve care.

In the report he said: “During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern.

“In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken.”

Following legal submissions by Irwin Mitchell, in a civil case, the hospital trust has since accepted a breach of duty and apologised for the failures in Alan’s care.

The trust accepted that if Alan’s vascular symptoms had been identified earlier, he would have been transferred for and undergone specialist surgery sooner. However, the trust argued that even with earlier surgery Alan would not have survived.

A spokesperson for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said: "The trust would like to express our sincere condolences to Alan’s family and loved ones.

“Following a thorough investigation into Alan’s care, we identified areas where improvements could be made.

“As a result of this, we have strengthened medical education on renal and vascular pathways and pain management risk assessments.

“The trust is also working on the development of a patient story, with the support of Alan's family, to share the learning from Alan's care more widely across the organisation."

Diane has now spoken for the first time about her loss and joined her legal team in calling for lessons to be learned.

Alan with wife Diane (Image: Contributor)

She said: “We feel let down by the lack of care Alan received by the hospital trust and that there were so many missed opportunities in his care.

“Those final days are something that will still with me forever and it’s something I’m not sure I’ll ever get over.

“Alan endured the most horrific last few days of his life in agony, scared and alone.

“Alan was one of the good guys. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him. We had still had so many hoped and dreams for the future that we’ll never get to fulfil.

“Alan was my best friend and soul mate and one of the hardest things to try and accept is that we never got to say ‘goodbye’ properly.

“On top of the lack of recognition of the seriousness of Alan’s condition, to also find out Alan faced delays in being transferred for surgery because hospital staff didn’t use the correct phrase to request an ambulance, astounds me.

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“To me using the correct language seems basic and is something that all staff need to be aware of.

“I’d do anything to turn the clock back and have Alan in our lives but know that’s not possible.

“All I can hope for now is that by speaking out others don’t have to go through what our family have.”