A fit and healthy university student may not have died in hospital with sepsis had medics not repeatedly failed to act on his doctor mother’s desperate pleas for life-saving antibiotics.
Coroner Mary Hassell said it was not possible to determine conclusively whether or not 22-year-old William Hewes would have survived had he been treated earlier upon his arrival at Homerton University Hospital in east London.
The Leeds University history and politics student died within hours of arriving at the hospital – where his mother Deborah Burns had been a paediatric consultant for the last 20 years – on January 21 2023.
In a narrative conclusion delivered today at Bow Coroner’s Court, Ms Hassell gave the medical cause of death as meningococcal septicaemia.
She said William, who was 6ft 6in and weighed around 16 stones, ‘was already very unwell when he arrived (at hospital) and it is unclear whether if he had been administered all appropriate treatment promptly, his life would have been saved’.
In a statement afterwards, 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.’
The inquest previously heard how an emergency department registrar admitted she was not clear in giving instructions to administer antibiotics to William, a senior nurse said she forgot to check the specific medication required, and the nurse-in-charge failed to ensure antibiotics had been administered.
Dr Burns 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.’
Dave Dolan, his father, added: ‘We want better care for Jack. We will go to Parliament. We want a change in his condition and how he is cared for.’
William Hewes, a history and politics university student at Leeds, died 12 hours after being admitted to Homerton Hospital
Mr Hewes (right, with his three siblings) was studying history and politics at university and was said to have been fit and healthy before the infection
Coroner Mary Hassell said it was not possible to determine conclusively whether William Hewes would have survived had he been treated earlier at Homerton University Hospital (pictured)
The coroner said ‘the real area of contention’ was whether earlier treatment would have changed the outcome.
The inquest heard expert witnesses gave differing opinions, backed by data, relating to Mr Hewes’ chances of survival if he had been treated earlier.
The coroner said: ‘I have thought carefully about each opinion, which I find were honestly and at times passionately given, but ultimately I am not persuaded by either.
‘What I conclude is not that I cannot choose between them.
‘It is that I choose neither.
‘I am not convinced, even on the balance of probabilities, that the state of medical knowledge is such that we know the answer to the question of whether William would have survived had he received earlier treatment when he got to hospital.’
Ms Hassell added: ‘I found Dr Burns to be compelling witness and it seems to me the events are likely to be imprinted on her mind forever.’
Mr Hewes had been suffering headaches, a fever and blurred vision which Dr Burns believed meant her son was showing signs of sepsis, a potentially deadly reaction to infection, and told colleagues as such when she arrived at the hospital shortly after midnight.
But Mr Hewes was instead treated with fluids, morphine, paracetamol, and medication to prevent nausea – despite nursing staff identifying signs of sepsis almost immediately.
The Mail has long campaigned for better awareness and treatment of sepsis.