A grieving mum demands answers from the First Minister and Ninewells Hospital bosses after her tragic son’s death just six days after he was sent home.
David Allan, a double lung transplant patient with cystic fibrosis and diabetes, went to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee at the peak of the pandemic.
He began to feel unwell suffering severe stomach cramps and diarrhoea fearing he was in the grip of a serious infection.
But relatives say he was told by medics “to just take two paracetamol” and sent home to Blairgowrie and told to come back if his symptoms got worse.
‘Sacrifice’
David died just six days later at the age of just 47 triggering family fears among his mum and sister that he was a “sacrifice” during the peak of the Covid crisis when medics were reportedly struggling to cope with the pandemic at Ninewells.
Tayside health chiefs have hit back at the family’s claims saying they have fully reviewed David’s treatment and stand by their original diagnosis that given his conditions, he was safer at home due to Covid.
They also say they carried out tests which didn’t show he was suffering from any acute illness that required him to stay in hospital.
His death certificate cited ‘presumed Myocardial Infarction’, the medical term for a heart attack, and ‘presumed coronary artery disease’.
David’s mum Jean, 81, and his sister Susan Lawson have demanded answers from Nicola Sturgeon over his case. Their plea has been backed by senior politicians who have called for an urgent probe into his death.
Jean, from Alyth, battled to save David on the night he died. She said: “It was so unexpected. He said he felt tired and had never felt worse.
“The hospital did nothing and just told him to take some paracetamol. The night he died I was making supper. When I went through to tell him to come for some tea, I couldn’t wake him.
“He is a great loss. We just don’t want others to go through what we want through. When you ask for answers, they fob you off and tell you things that never happened.
“The hospital said they contacted David on the day he died but I was with him all day and it is just not true, they never contacted him at all.”
‘Greater good’
Tayside health chiefs have offered to meet with the family to discuss their concerns.
Susan, 56, from Blairgowrie, said: “We do feel he was a sacrificed for what was seen as the greater good during the pandemic.
“My brother David had cystic fibrosis and had a double lung transplant in 2000. He was reasonably fit. He started to suffer diarrhoea and had a sore stomach in April last year.
“He thought it may have been a side effect of the anti-rejection drugs for the lung transplant. He was shielding but they sent him to Ninewells where he was given intravenous antibiotics.
“He was also given a Covid test which was negative and then he was sent home.
“He was told to take two paracetamol if his condition got worse but the diarrhoea was still really bad. He said to us that he had never been so tired.”
Six days after being sent home from hospital, his 81-year-old mum found him slumped in bed drawing his last breath.
Susan wants the First Minister to launch a probe to find out how many other people were turned away from hospital for lifesaving treatment during the pandemic.
Last breath
Susan said: “He told my mum he was going to bed for a while one evening. My mum kept checking on him and at about 11pm, she was going through to put the kettle on and popped in to check on him.
“She found him taking his last breath. She tried to help him and had to get him down on the floor and pulled him off the bed to try to resuscitate him.
“In 1972, the doctors had said that he wouldn’t live long because of his health issues but she had told the doctors: ‘I will show you’.
How many other people have suffered the same fate?”
“It has been very difficult. She felt that she had failed him but there was nothing she could have done. We just feel that we have been cheated.
“Why would they turn him away? We understand they probably sent him away because of the fear of the Covid-19 infection.
“But they must have known he wouldn’t have lasted long without some sort of help. David will not be the only one to have been turned away.
“How many other people have suffered the same fate?”
Tragic case
Susan has raised the family’s plight with Murdo Fraser, Mid Scotland and Fife MSP, who demanded a probe into David’s death and treatment.
Mr Fraser said: “This is a tragic case that demands concrete answers and so far these have not been provided by either NHS Tayside or the Scottish Government.
“From what Mr Allan’s family have said, it appears that his medical treatment was not what it should have been and they believe this ultimately contributed to his death.
“I am backing their call for another investigation into the matter as they have some very legitimate questions that need answered.”
Scottish Labour’s spokeswoman for Health and Covid Recovery Jackie Baillie said: “This tragic case needs to be investigated in order to give David’s family the answers they deserve.
“If we are to learn the lessons of the pandemic we need to identify where mistakes may have been made in individual cases as well as at a national level.
“Nothing can undo the loss David’s family have faced but the very least they deserve is some closure on the cause of his death.”
Breaking point
In January, NHS Tayside was feared to be nearing breaking point by running out of specialist Covid-19 hospital beds.
The health board reported that 81 percent of its current Covid-19 beds were already full with cases continuing to surge.
A week earlier, on January 4, less than 40 percent of its 191-bed capacity was in use.
The figures showed the escalating impact of the virus on local communities and families across Dundee, Perth and Kinross and Angus.
The rocketing numbers led to renewed calls on people to follow government guidance and predictions that further restrictions are now “inevitable and essential.”
At the time, NHS Tayside managers were looking to scale up the number of available beds in the region with a further 68 promised.
Sincere condolences
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We extend our deepest condolences to Mr Allan’s family, and are in touch with NHS Tayside regarding the circumstances of this very distressing situation. We understand NHS Tayside has offered to meet the family.
“The safety of patients and their families will always be our top priority – they must have the right support and information to give them confidence they are receiving the best care possible from our NHS.”
An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said: “We would like to offer our sincere condolences to Mr Allan’s family. Due to patient confidentiality, we cannot discuss individual patients.
“NHS Tayside’s Complaints and Feedback Team fully investigated concerns raised by Mr Allan’s family and the findings of the investigation were shared with them.
“However, we would invite Mr Allan’s family to get in touch so that we can arrange a meeting with a member of the clinical team that looked after Mr Allan, to enable them to further discuss any concerns they may have.”