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By ROISIN GADELRAB
 
Doc admits 'error' after patient dies

A DOCTOR has admitted it was an “error” to allow a critically ill patient to go home without warning him his life was in danger, an inquest heard on Tuesday.
The family of Stephen Dennis Pipe, who died of a heart attack caused by a cancerous mass behind a heart valve, was told he’d be back at work within 10 days, St Pancras Coroner’s Court was told.
Driving instructor Mr Pipe, 49, waited hours for an ambulance to transfer him from the Heart Hospital, in Harley Street, to the Royal Free only to find his bed taken by the time he arrived.
Unaware doctors suspected he was suffering from a life-threatening condition, the exhausted patient chose to go home rather than wait a minimum of four hours in casualty. He died the next day.
The inquest heard that Mr Pipe, of Ilford, who ran two driving schools – Lady Drive and On The Road – with his brother in Camden, went to the Royal Free last May suffering from complications associated with a previous liver transplant.
His brother Tony told the court: “We spoke to a doctor who told us there’s nothing to be concerned about.
“Our doctors said there was nothing life-threatening.”
David Patch, consultant physician at the Royal Free admitted the doctors had serious concerns about Mr Pipe’s health.
He said: “We should have told him we were concerned and we didn’t.”
Mr Pipe suffered a cardiac arrest at 6am early the next morning and despite attempts to resuscitate him, he died 30 minutes later.
Verdict: Natural causes.
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