Doctors 'let our son die from a nosebleed'

Experts told an inquest that William Hall would have stood a 98 per cent chance of surviving if he had received proper treatment.

The 22-year-old was admitted to hospital after being punched in the face in Ibiza when he accidentally got into a car he thought was a taxi.

But when the former public schoolboy went to a local hospital, doctors failed to spot the warning signs of heavy blood loss.

Mr Hall's parents Richard and Anna are now taking legal action against the Can Misses Hospital. They claim that doctors' negligence was responsible for their son's death.

An inquest yesterday heard that Mr Hall, who had just finished a degree at King's College London, was on holiday with his family in Ibiza last August.

He complained to his parents of feeling ill two days after the attack and told them blood was trickling into the back of his throat.

They took him to the hospital, where a blood test showed he had a haemoglobin level of 10.4 - indicating significant blood loss.

Consultant surgeon Stuart Wells, who reviewed the medical evidence, told the inquest this reading was worryingly low and should have sounded alarm bells.

"He should have been kept in hospital for observation for a minimum of 24 hours," he told the hearing in Taunton in Somerset.

"A reading of ten should have alerted clinicians to the blood loss. A young man of his age would normally have a reading of 14 or 15."

Mr Hall was discharged and told to come back in 48 hours. But the next day he collapsed in the bathroom and told his father he was struggling to breathe.

Mr Hall was again taken to the hospital, where his haemoglobin had dropped to 6.8, which should have alerted doctors to his critical condition, the inquest heard.

But they failed to treat the blood loss from the major arteries in his nose and the student died a few hours later.

After the hearing, Mr Hall's father, 56, a property developer, and his wife, 54, said his death had been completely avoidable.

The couple from Taunton added: "William Hall lost his life one year ago due to the arrogance and incompetence of behaviour at Can Misses Hospital in Ibiza."

Coroner Michael Rose recorded a narrative verdict, saying Mr Hall had died from an upper airway haemorrhage.