A 19-year-old student died from sepsis failing to get a GP appointment, despite calling 25 time, an inquest has heard
A faulty phone system meant that Toby Hudson was unable to get through to the practice in Weymouth, Dorset. He tried again the next day, only to be told when he did get through that he could not get an appointment for 48 hours.
Hudson died on July 4th, 2019, two days after originally seeking help at Wyke Regis & Lanehouse Medical Practice.
The university student was told by the practice that because he was registered at his university home of Southampton, he would either have to wait two days to re-register, or go to an urgent care walk-in centre.
At the walk-in centre, he was wrongly diagnosed with tonsillitis, and given antibiotics by a nurse practitioner.
Hudson's parents called 999 after his condition deteriorated and he became unconscious.
He suffered a cardiac arrest, but faced further delay getting to a hospital after the ambulance went to the wrong location.
Following a post-mortem, his death was found to be from multiple organ failure due to sepsis.
Dr Matthew Brook, a partner at the Wake Regis & Lanehouse Medical Practice, said at the inquest that the phone system had suffered problems due to the number of people trying to get through.
"We were having tremendous problems with our phone system which could not handle a much higher number of calls."
"We had updated the system but it was not working correctly."
"There was a queuing system but in a lot of cases people were waiting a long time and then hanging up."
"We have had a review since then and nobody recalled taking the call from Toby."
Toby's father said that the family "have a lot of concerns about his care."
"I felt there was no urgency. I had to press for action to be taken and for our concerns to be heard."
The inquest continues.
