Pre-Hospital Medical Treatment Exacerbated Injuries Caused During Accident

The family of a Scarborough man who died last year shortly after being injured in a cycling accident have revealed how they are pushing on with their battle for justice following the conclusion of an inquest into his death.

John Thompson died aged 69 on June 9th 2017 after suffering injuries when he fell from his bike while cycling near the bottom of Reasty Bank Road in Harwood Dale. The husband and father-of-two was initially treated at the scene before being airlifted to Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital following the incident but sadly passed away shortly afterwards.

The Coroner reached the conclusion of an accident which was exacerbated by a delay in timely and appropriate medical intervention. The inquest into John’s death was held at Middlesbrough Coroner’s Court on Friday 27th July.

The inquest highlighted a range of concerns regarding the care that John received following the incident, with an internal NHS investigation highlighting that a breakdown in communication and a loss of situational awareness by the pre-hospital medical team impacted on the delivery of the right medical care at the scene. 

Independent medical expert evidence provided by Mr Peter Goode, a retired Consultant in Emergency Medicine who appeared before the Coroner, supported this.

Mr Goode said that there was a delay in identifying that John’s condition had deteriorated to the point that he suffered a cardiac arrest and there was a failure to provide adequate and timely ventilation to oxygenate John’s blood. In the expert’s opinion there was a delay in providing John with effective medical treatment which contributed to his death.

Ross McWilliams, a solicitor at Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office who represented the family at the inquest, said: 

Expert Opinion

“Our clients have had long-held concerns regarding the medical treatment that John received following the incident before he reached hospital and this hearing has suggested that ultimately better care could and should have been provided.

“It is understandably upsetting to hear that a failure to provide timely and appropriate medical treatment contributed to a love one’s death.

“Following this hearing, we will now be supporting the family and helping them move forward with a civil claim in relation to John’s death.

“The Coroner was given assurances from a representative from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust that steps have been taken to address cultural and behavioural issues within the unit involved in this incident through a programme of training, to improve team communication, situational awareness in high risk and complex incidents like this and to improve the culture of shared decision making.

“This news was welcomed by the family. It is hoped that this will go some way to preventing similar incidents happening in the future.” Ross McWilliams - Partner

During the hearing, it was also revealed that the time that the paramedics and medical team spent on the scene of the accident treating John was too long. This was due to complications that they had to deal with but also because a decision was made to wait for an air ambulance rather than taking him to hospital by road. 

Had John been taken to hospital by road there would have been an opportunity for more definitive medical treatment and early scanning which would have detected the serious head injury that he was suffering from.

Commenting on the outcome of the inquest, John’s widow Elaine Thompson, 65, said: “The hearing has been very difficult for the whole family, as it has been particularly hard to discover the issues that John faced in the final hours of his life.

“We all remain devastated by our loss but are now determined to continue with our legal battle to get justice regarding what happened to him and to, ultimately, ensure that lessons are learned and the problems that John faced do not ever happen again.” 

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