Change language
Actions
Displays
Remove from selection
Add to selection
Abstract

A retired postman died after falling down an escalator at the Whittington Hospital as he made his way to an outpatient appointment on Christmas Eve, an inquest has heard.

David Roberts, 88, was taken to the hospital’s A&E department complaining of a “mild headache” after the fall, but his condition rapidly deteriorated later that day and he died in the early hours of December 27 after suffering a massive bleed on the brain.

A jury at St Pancras Coroner’s Court was shown CCTV footage of Mr Roberts walking towards the hospital’s lift, before appearing to change his mind and use the escalator.

The Health and Safety Executive launched an investigation following the incident.

Mr Roberts used a walking stick but was described as “very alert”.

A report read to the court said: “It appears Mr Roberts lost his balance due to movement of the escalator.”

His son, Mike, questioned the safety of escalators in hospitals.

He said outside the court: “I’m wondering how sensible having an escalator in the front [of the hospital] is, given the numbers of vulnerable elderly, young [people], which I think they need to review.”

The hospital said there had been eight accidents on the escalator since June 2012, but none of the others had resulted in serious injury.

Mr Roberts, who lived in Muswell Hill, was on his way to the podiatry department for assessment of an ulcer on his foot that was the result of his long-term diabetes.

Following the fall, an initial assessment was carried out in A&E which found Mr Roberts “did not have any obvious head injury” and he was prescribed painkillers for a “mild headache”.

A scan showed bleeding on his brain – known as a subdural hematoma – and doctors contacted a specialist at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, for advice.

They were told that surgery would not be the best approach and were advised to “monitor locally for 48 hours, then discharge with head injury advice”.

But shortly before 8pm a nurse heard Mr Roberts “gurgling” and struggling to breathe. Another brain scan was urgently carried out, which Whittington Hospital executive medical director Richard Jennings said showed the bleed was now much bigger and was “pushing the brain across in such a way we would expect to cause death”.

He told the court that the advice received from the Royal London Hospital, which was selected from a “ticklist” of options, had been inaccurate and failed to take into account that Mr Roberts was taking blood-thinning medicine to prevent strokes – a risk due to Mr Roberts’ irregular heartbeat, known as an “atrial flutter”.

Mr Jennings told the court: “I think that did not come across as clearly in the advice we received at the time.”

He added: “All the available published evidence suggests that an operation to try and evacuate the blood would not help him and he would have died anyway.”

Speaking outside the court, Mr Roberts’ son said: “I got called down and I went to see him in A&E and we talked briefly. I was able to give him some water because he was very thirsty and I was able to stroke his head and kiss him, so I didn’t know it was my goodbyes then, but I was able to do that.”

A jury took a little over half-an-hour to determine that Mr Roberts’ death had been accidental.

Addressing the inaccurate assessment received from Royal London Hospital – not to carry out surgery, but to continue to monitor

Mr Roberts – coroner Richard Brittain said: “That was appropriate advice to give but it did not state the true picture of the poor prognosis that Mr Roberts had.”