A university student has died of sepsis after trying to go to a GP 25 times just to refuse an appointment.
Toby Hudson, 19, could not speak to anyone at the practice in Weymouth, Dorset, due to a faulty telephone system, and gave up again the next day.
When he passed by a staff member, he was told he could not make an appointment for at least 48 hours.
The teenager was told that, due to the fact that he was registered at another operation in his university town of Southampton, Hants, he could wait either two days to re-register or go to a boarding center for urgent care.
He visited the center and was seen by nurse Briony Jefferis, who had been misdiagnosed with tonsillitis and given antibiotics.
During the next 24 hours, the condition of Mr. Hudson weakened before his parents who called 999 when he slipped into unconsciousness.
He had a cardiac arrest, but he was delayed going to hospital because an ambulance went to the wrong place.
Toby died on the night of July 4, 2019, two days after first seeking help at the Wyke Regis & Lanehouse Medical Practice in Weymouth, Dorset.
A post-mortem showed that he died of multiple organ failure due to sepsis, due to infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever).
In an investigation into his death in Bournemouth, it was heard that Mr. Hudson was previously a patient at the Weymouth practice.
However, when he moved to Southampton to study chemistry at university, he registered at a new clinic closer to campus.
He suffered from cough for about two months before returning to his family home in Weymouth in the summer of 2019.
Toby was heard to be suffering from swollen glands and ‘bloated’ tonsils and a sore throat when his parents told him to talk to a family doctor.
Dr. Matthew Brook, a partner at Wake Regis & Lanehouse Medical Practice, testified and acknowledged problems with the telephone system due to a high patient load.
Dr Brook said: ‘We had huge problems with our telephone system that could not handle much higher calls.
“We updated the system, but it’s not working properly.
‘There was a rope system, but in many cases people waited a long time and then hung up.
“We have had a review since then and no one could remember that he took Toby’s call.”
Dr. Brook maintains that the correct procedures have been followed. According to national guidelines, temporary residents should only be seen by a family doctor if they do not urgently need care.
He said: “At temporary residents, receptionists are told to ask if a patient needs an urgent appointment within 48 hours.
‘If they need it within 48 hours, we refer it to the urgent care unit.
“If not, the patient will be re-registered and we can then make an appointment.”
Mrs. Jefferis said she was “not worried from a distance” about Toby’s symptoms when she examined him in the urgent care center at Weymouth Community Hospital.
She added that he “shows no signs of sepsis” and that his symptoms “correspond to those of tonsillitis.”
Mr. Hudson’s father, Peter, returned home on July 4 to make him look pale. When he helped his son to the wet room of the house, he briefly lost consciousness, and he called 999.
The teenager was then taken from his home address in Weymouth to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, but died later that evening.
Mr Hudson said: ‘I felt there was no urgency. I had to push to act and to voice our concerns. ”
He added: “We are very concerned about his care.”
With Bournemouth News and Pictures