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Father of two dies after six-hour wait in A&E
Sophie Goodchild, Health Editor29 Dec 2008
The family of a father of two who died after a six-hour wait in Accident and Emergency today called for an inquiry.
Stewart Fleming, 37, suffered multiple organ failure from a virus after being sent by his GP to Kent's Medway Maritime Hospital with a note warning that he had to be seen "straight away".
Hospital staff sent him back to queue despite the fact he was in agony. It took three hours to assess Mr Fleming as a "priority case" and another three to admit him on 12 December. Only then did doctors start treating the infection.
The railway signalman had a leg amputated before he died at Harefield Hospital near Uxbridge on Saturday. His wife Sarah, 42, described him as a "fantastic father" to Matthew, 12, and Lauren, 14. Mrs Fleming said: "I was with Stewart when the GP called the hospital. He typed us a letter and told us to go to A&E and hand this letter over and that Stewart should be treated immediately. But when we got to A&E it was full to bursting. I walked to the front with the letter and told them what the GP had said, but I was just told to go to the back of the queue."
Medway NHS Foundation Trust today said it was "saddened to hear of the death of Stewart Fleming". It added: "Mr Fleming came to Medway Maritime Hospital's Emergency Department on a day when it was experiencing long waits due to a high number of admissions. The situation was not unique to Medway - hospitals across the country were all experiencing a rise in demand for their services at the time."
Reader views (13)
We have very long waits in the United States. We have to same problem, receptionist making sure all paper work is done first. Then you get to go to a Triad room and be evaluated. (If you are still breathing). When you finally get in a room you can hear the doctors joking around.
- Onie Gray, Farmerville ,Lousiana, USA, 30/12/2008 07:56
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It is a disgrace that you arrive at a hospital in agony and you are sent to the back of a queue and finally they take 6 hours to see you. I would have thought this things didn't happen in a EU country.
- John Span, london, 30/12/2008 01:14
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Do they have no shame or feeling of responsibility?
Who can possibly believe that this kind of administration is a good thing?
- Tof, whyteleafe surrey, 29/12/2008 22:17
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How disgraceful that the Medway NHS Foundation Trust, cannot even give a sincere apology. Rather than admit that its A&E triage failed Mr.Fleming in a most appaling manner, it could not resist the opportunity to wheel out the tried and trusted, "its not just us, look at all the others" mantra.
- Mike B, London, 29/12/2008 20:23
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Oh Dear Frank, someone dies in Hospital and suddenly it is Gordon Browns fault!!! by that yardstick anyone who dies between 1979 and 1997 was killed by Thatcher and major?
- Kerry Trubee, purley, 29/12/2008 19:47
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Maybe the GP should have called for an ambulance and set the wheels in motion at a much earlier stage. My sympathies to the family.
- Roger, Surrey, 29/12/2008 18:45
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The NHS is a disgrace.
- Sara, Richmond, 29/12/2008 18:25
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Labour is too busy paying billions on failed computer systems. Just throwing money at a problem doesn't fix it. It is amazing how Labour makes the same mistakes time and time again.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 29/12/2008 17:38
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It was very comforting to hear Gordon Brown say that the government is right to react to the credit cruch to help people in their time of need.
Perhaps the same principle could be used in medical services. We should expand the mission of the NHS to include care for those with life threatening diseases as well as its established role of providing televisions, telephones and parking at inflated prices.
- Paul, London, 29/12/2008 17:29
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How very sad this story is. My thoughts are with the family. Was there not a triage system in place at the hospital? Considering the fact that the G.P had given such high priority in his letter, this should have been taken into account. This is a tragedy, it is not enough for the hospital to blame a busy department, a triage nurse should have identified the need for this gent to be seen promptly.
- Ceri Davies, Milton Keynes, Bucks, 29/12/2008 17:07
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The NHS is badly managed. A & E (Accident & EMERGENCY) - and invariably the first people you see are receptionists. Ridiculous. Everyone should be seen by people with some albeit minimal medical training. Get rid of unqualified reception staff and get professionals in to replace them. There might be some improvement to the prioritisation process. Because currently clerks are first point of contact and first to assess patients condition - and as I say - this is stupid.
- Raymond, London, 29/12/2008 17:07
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If they can sack a teacher for wearing trainers, they can sack the whole team at the reception desk of that hospital for non-assistance to a patient. Shame on them and I hope they will have the heart to help out that family in every possible way they can, starting with funeral costs and suppor. What a tragedy in these so called modern times we live in -- total humane indifference is not an English characteristic -- what has gone wrong?
- Mrs. L Grey, London, 29/12/2008 16:28
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My husband's first wife died because having to wait from 7am to midnight with a major brain haemorrhage. Nobody wanted to bother the consultant. The lady had no control over her body function and my husband had to beg nurses to clean up the mess that his dear wife was making. She was left on a trolley like a sack of potatoes. We take more care with animals than humans in the UK. It is shameful.
- Chantal, Dudley, UK, 29/12/2008 15:33
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