Parents of Cheshire student who died following remote GP appointments feel 'vindicated'

The parents of a student who died after remote consultations say they have been vindicated after an inquest into his death.

Andrew and Anne Nash from Nantwich in Cheshire, have been fighting for two years to find out if their son would have survived had he been seen in person by Burnley Park Medical Centre in Leeds.

David Nash had complained of fever, neck stiffness and night-time headaches during a phone consultation on 2 November 2020.  

The inquest, which concluded on 20 January, concluded it was a “missed opportunity” when an advanced nurse practitioner failed to arrange an in person appointment for David.

The coroner said in her narrative conclusion: “Had he been directed to seek face-to-face or urgent care by the GP practice, it is more likely than not that he would have undergone neurosurgery approximately 10 hours earlier than he actually did which, at that time, it is more likely than not would have been successful.”

The timeline of events leading up to David's death:

• 14 October 2020: Mr Nash contacted the practice and told a GP over the phone about his concerns about lumps on his neck.

• 23 October 2020: He rang again and told an advanced nurse practitioner about his painful and hot right ear.

• 28 October 2020 : He told a locum GP he had blood in his urine and he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.

• 2 November 2020: Another call with an advanced nurse practitioner who diagnosed a flu-like viral infection.

The coroner heard his condition deteriorated on 2 November and he and his partner made five calls to NHS 111, which his parents have described as “shambolic”.

After the final NHS 111 call, Mr Nash was taken to St James’s Hospital in Leeds by ambulance and later transferred to Leeds General Infirmary for neurosurgery.

He died on 4 November.

David had developed mastoiditis in his ear which caused an abscess on his brain, leading to his death, the inquest heard.

The inquest was told Mr Nash fell while in a confused state but unsupervised in St James’s Hospital, but this did not contribute to his death.

Reading a statement outside court, his mother said: “As a family we have been devastated by David’s death. He was our wonderful son, brother and friend.”

She said the family have spent two years trying to “make sure others don’t die as David did”.

Mrs Nash said: “We are both saddened and vindicated by the findings that the simple and obvious, necessary step of seeing him in person would have saved his life.”

The coroner said a statement from Dr Neil Lawton, a partner at Burley Park Medical Centre, detailed the changes that have taken place at the surgery since the student’s death and apologised to the family.

Dr Lawton said that at the point in the pandemic when Mr Nash died, the surgery was seeing 10-20% of patients face-to-face, but this figure has now returned to 80% plus, which is higher than the national average.

He said that if Mr Nash called now with the same symptoms as he did on 2 November, 2020, he would not even have been considered for remote consultation.

Mrs Nash said: “We are relieved that the organisations involved in David’s care have made changes to their policies and procedures following this inquest process.

“By shining a light on his case, as we have done, we will have helped to prevent future deaths from occurring and we have done David justice.”