Why coroner has paused inquest into death of 67-year-old man at Blackpool Victoria Hospital
Further evidence to be considered after family raise concerns over earlier assessment
A coroner has paused an inquest into the death of a 67-year-old Fleetwood man in order to consider further evidence .
Michael Goodall, of Hatfield Avenue, died in Blackpool Victoria Hospital in February after being rushed back there with a cardiac arrest following his discharge a short time earlier.
The inquest at Blackpool Town Hall heard that Mr Goodall had initially gone to the hospital following increasing back pain but following a CT scan, he was diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection, given anti-biotics and discharged.
No sooner had he arrived home, however, than he suffered a cardiac arrest and after being rushed back to Blackpool Victoria, died in the emergency department there.
Pathologist Dr Muhammad Aslam told the inquest that his cause of death was found at a post mortem to be a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, which is a life-threatening, balloon-like bulge in the aorta, the body’s main artery.
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Often called a "silent killer", it rarely shows symptoms until a critical event occurs but Dr Aslam said that Mr Goodall’s back pain might potentially have been one of the early indicators of the problem.
There was no evidence that Mr Goodall had a history of cardiac problems but his told the inquest he suffered sever pain in his left leg before paramedics were called, another possible indicator of the aneurysm.
Blackpool and Fylde chief coroner Alan Wilson said the main question to be considered at the inquest was why Mr Goodall was sent home and then taken severely ill.
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Dr Sam Guest, head of department in emergency medicine at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, said all the correct procedures had been followed on Mr Goodall’s initial visit to the hospital.
But after Mr Goodall’s family raised concerns over the assessment of his condition on that visit, Mr Wilson said he needed to hear evidence from the doctors on duty at the time and would pause the inquest to allow for them to attend.
Mr Wilson said the aim is to hear the additional evidence as soon as possible, depending on the hearings calendar, but hopefully within three to four weeks, after which he will give his conclusion.