Coroner rules not possible to say if earlier treatment would have saved student
William Hewes, 22, died at Homerton University Hospital in January 2023 after suffering from sepsis.
It is not possible to say whether a fit and healthy student who died in hospital with sepsis would have survived if he had been treated earlier, a coroner has ruled.
William Hewes, 22, of Islington, north London, died at Homerton University Hospital (HUH) on January 21 2023 within 24 hours of being admitted after his meningitis, caused by a meningococcal infection, developed into sepsis.
The 6ft 6ins history and politics student was rushed to the emergency department by his mother, consultant paediatrician Deborah Burns, who was a doctor at that same east London hospital for more than 20 years.
An inquest in February at Bow Coroner’s Court heard medical staff failed to administer antibiotics swiftly to Mr Hewes and Dr Burns said her son was “left unmonitored and untreated in resus for far too long”, and that his care “was no better on the ICU until it was too late”.
In a narrative conclusion delivered on Thursday, senior coroner Mary Hassell said he did not get treatment including antibiotics and fluids “with the urgency that he should have”. She gave the medical cause of death as meningococcal septicaemia.
The coroner also said “he was already very unwell when he arrived and it is unclear whether if he had been administered all appropriate treatment promptly, his life would have been saved”.
In a statement on Thursday, Dr Burns said: “I hope that the outcome of the coroner’s inquest can lead to learning and improvement to the care of people with sepsis in the future.”
She added: “On the night I took William to hospital I knew he needed antibiotics as soon as possible but I witnessed a delay.
“In all, I raised the alarm eight times. On one occasion I was told the antibiotics had been given when they had not.”
She added: “My pursuit of the truth is not about blame. It has always been driven by concerns about the standard of care I witnessed in my own emergency department.”
The coroner said “the real area of contention” is whether earlier treatment would have changed the outcome.
