Blackpool Victoria Hospital to reduce risk to cardiac patients over coroner's fear after man, 67, dies

The death of a man in Blackpool Victoria Hospital has led to a raft of changes to reduce the risk to cardiac patients across the North West.

The measures have been taken by the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust following a Prevention of Future Deaths report issued by Blackpool’s senior coroner Alan Wilson.

His concerns arose during an inquest into the death of 67-year-old Roland Michaud.

Mr Michaud died on December 30, 2025 after being transferred to the Lancashire Cardiac Centre at The Vic. His medical cause of death was recorded as ischaemic heart disease.

A conclusion of natural causes was recorded but Mr Wilson said he was concerned that patients from hospitals such as Lancaster, Preston, Chorley, Furness and Blackburn, were not being transferred in time to the regional cardiac centre in Blackpool.

In 2008 Mr Michaud underwent a coronary by-pass operation and had no more problems until December 10, 2025 when he attended the emergency department at Furness General Hospital in Barrow with chest pains.

He was discharged with a view to attending the cardiology department but by the morning of December 26, 2025, he had returned to hospital reporting more episodes of chest pain.

After discussions with the Blackpool’s cardiac centre it was agreed that he should remain at Furness General, but when the pains continued it was decided he should be transferred to Blackpool.

On December 30, Mr Michaud under went a procedure which went well but post- operatively his condition started to deteriorate and sadly shortly after he passed away.

In his Prevention of Future Deaths report, however, the Coroner stated: "Whilst Roland had remained in Furness General Hospital the need for him to be transferred to Blackpool Victoria Hospital went under-appreciated, in part due to sub-optimial communication between the two hospitals. However, there is no evidence to suggest that earlier transfer would have made a difference to when Roland died.

Mr Wilson added: “Patients attending one of those hospitals with a more concerning presentation than Roland Michaud may find themselves on the Primary Coronary Intervention [PCI] pathway and transferred to Blackpool relatively quickly – from information provided at the inquest, this process appears to be working satisfactorily and no concerns arise.

“A concern does arise in relation to patients whose symptoms / presentation may be less concerning initially, meaning the Acute Coronary Syndrome pathway applies.”

The cardiac co-ordinator at Blackpool Vic told the inquest that she sometimes had to deal with transfers which ought to have happened sooner.

"I formed the view," said Mr Wilson, "this could be for a range of reasons including limited personnel performing the cardiac co-ordinator role, no cardiac co-orinator working over weekends and Bank Holidays, poor record-keeping, the number of cardiac patients the team in Blackpool deal with, and a lack of understanding about the Acute Coronary Syndrome Pathway and what is expected."

In a detailed response the Trust's Chief Medical Officer Dr Neil Harley-Smith said: “A review had identified that the pathway was not clear enough about what should happen when a patient's symptoms changed or continued after an initial referral decision.

"The key learning is that a change in a patient's condition must prompt direct clinical re-escalation irrespective of the initial referral decision or the availability of a cardiac co-ordinator.

"The revised pathway will make this requirement explicit, including arrangements for weekends, Bank Holidays and out-of-hours periods."

A spokesperson for Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, said: “We’d like to offer our sincere condolences to the family of Mr Michaud.

“The Trust has worked hard to strengthen our processes for patients who are referred to the regional cardiac centre, in particular on the acute coronary syndrome pathway. This includes changes to staffing, record keeping and planning for urgent escalations.”