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Islington Tribune - by SARA NEWMAN
Published: 13 June 2008

Avraam Theodorou

Pensioner was killed by van as he crossed road

Hospital ‘failed to keep family informed’

HOSPITAL bosses have apologised to the family of a retired butcher who died after being hit by a van for failing to keep them informed of his condition.
An inquest at St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard how Avraam Theodorou, 85, was killed in March last year as he crossed Seven Sisters Road at the junction of Hornsey Road and Thane Villas at around 1.30pm.
Mr Theodorou was on his way home to Falconer Road in Holloway after delivering the Cypriot Workers Progressive Party (AREL) newspaper, Parikiaki, when he was knocked down by the van, falling on his head and breaking his ribs.
Driver Colin Hawkins was later found guilty of driving without due care and attention – the brake and reverse lights on his vehicle were faulty at the time of the incident.
He had pleaded not guilty to the charge at Horseferry Magistrates’ Court in December last year.
Mr Hawkins declined to attend Tuesday’s inquest to give his account of the incident.
Whittington registrar Joseph Dawson told the court that results of Mr Theodorou’s brain scans had been delivered to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Bloomsbury by taxi rather than by electronic transfer in the hours following the incident.
It had taken three and a half hours for the neuro-surgeons to report back to the Whittington.
Mr Dawson said the scans showed Mr Theodorou had suffered “catastrophic” internal bleeding in the brain and his survival rate was poor and saving his life would require an operation to remove the frontal lobe, the part of the brain that controls personality.
He said he first spoke to one of Mr Theodorou’s daughters 12 hours after the crash. Her father died later that day.
Mr Dawson said: “The impression that she gave me was that she hadn’t been told much and certainly the gravity of the situation wasn’t relayed to them.”
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid ruled Mr Theodorou died from an accident to which careless driving contributed.
A spokesman for Whittington Hospital said it was normal practice to send brain scans to the hospital in Westminster by taxi.
“The CT scans are very large electronic files and would take some time to transfer electronically,” the spokesman added.
After the inquest Mr Theodorou’s daughter Eleana said: “He was very active my dad. He wasn’t one to sit still. He was very much aware of where the traffic comes from. He knew the area like the back of his hand.”
She told the Tribune that the family were angry because they had not been kept properly informed by staff at the Whittington Hospital after medical experts ruled it would be futile to try and resuscitate him following the collision.
She stated that Deborah Wheeler, director of nursing at the Archway hospital, later apologised by letter for failing to keep relatives informed about the severity of Mr Theodorou’s condition on the day of the accident.
The letter said: “I have asked all the matrons across the hospital to remind their staff to be more understanding and respectful when dealing with family members.”

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