Toxicology tests later showed that he had taken the strong pain medication fentanyl, although the level in his blood was said to be low. Alcohol was also detected, but only 44mg per 100ml of blood – about half the drink-drive limit.
Dr Patrick Waugh, a pathologist and toxicologist, told the inquest that combining drugs and alcohol has the potential to exacerbate their toxicity, and that he believed they caused Dr Ahmed’s death.
But he said he could not be sure of the extent to which fatigue contributed to the impact of the drugs and alcohol on Dr Ahmed’s body.
Dr Ahmed’s wife said: “Family and friends, most of whom are doctors, have no doubt those doses would not have killed him had he not been exhausted.
“I have always been uncomfortable about the extra work undertaken by some doctors, both through private practice and working extra duties in the NHS.”
‘Adamant it suited him’
The inquest heard that an independent review carried out by the hospital trust discovered that Dr Ahmed had been working for a private practice before starting his night shift with the NHS on the day of his death.
The NHS trust that employed him expects doctors to notify them of secondary employment, but does not require them to declare the hours spent on other work.
And the inquest was told that Dr Ahmed’s clinical decision making on his final night was “faultless”, and his record “blemish-free”.
His wife, to whom he had been married for 23 years, described him as kind, patient and fit and healthy. He had climbed Kilimanjaro with his son, one of his three children, in July 2024.
She said she did not believe her husband intended to take his life, and that the blood results showed his death to be accidental.
The inquest in Bournemouth heard that Dr Ahmed was originally from Pakistan and that he had undergone registrar training in Oxford and at a pain fellowship in London.
At the time of his death he maintained a private practice along with a flexible employment pattern at the hospital which involved doing a lot of “challenging” work – mainly night shifts, long weekends and trauma lists.
This allowed him to travel to Pakistan several times a year to help his elderly parents, but his wife said the work pattern was “definitely starting to get to him”.
Ms Griffin said she was satisfied Dr Ahmed did not intend to take his own life and recorded a conclusion of misadventure.