\n Tom Frith died from encephalitis at Leighton Hospital on July 27, last year.\n<\/p>\n
\n His wife, Julia, claims his condition was overlooked and is taking legal action for medical negligence.\n<\/p>\n
\n The 66-year-old had been admitted on June 27 to an overrun A&E, with flu-like symptoms, struggling to speak, unsteady and confused, all signs of encephalitis.\n<\/p>\n
\n Keen biker Tom was at the Isle of Man TT Race a week before his illness (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n Initially, Tom was treated with paracetamol and fluids.\n<\/p>\n
\n Medics then thought he could have delirium caused by infection and prescribed antibiotics.\n<\/p>\n
\n By the time Tom was diagnosed, a week later, he had already suffered significant brain damage.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was moved to intensive care and put in a medically induced coma.\n<\/p>\n
\n Tom\u2019s condition had deteriorated after the first night but his wife was told there was a wait of more than seven hours for a doctor.\n<\/p>\n
\n Staff apologised for the delays saying that a new computer system was being introduced that day.\n<\/p>\n
\n After nine hours in hospital, medics thought he could be having a stroke.\n<\/p>\n
\n Julia said: \u201cWhat is concerning is that even though hospital staff were discussing Tom as a potential stroke patient, he was still left on the corridor for 36 hours.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cA&E was overwhelmed and I believe Tom was failed by the system.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Medics said Tom needed an MRI scan but they could only take place on weekdays.\n<\/p>\n
\n Julia said she asked if he could be taken to the neurological department at the Royal Stoke University Hospital but was told it was full.\n<\/p>\n
\n An MRI scan confirmed Tom had a brain clot and as his condition deteriorated, medics told her he was unlikely to recover.\n<\/p>\n
\n Julia said: \u201cI intend to continue to raise awareness of this virus and its symptoms so hopefully someone else could be saved and not have to go through what Tom did.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Tom loved his veg patch and was an avid Manchester United supporter (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n Biker Tom, an avid Manchester United supporter, had retired a year earlier and still led an active life.\n<\/p>\n
\n A week before his illness he went to the Isle of Man TT Races.\n<\/p>\n
\n The couple planned to buy a camper van and travel.\n<\/p>\n
\n Their dreams have now been shattered.\n<\/p>\n
\n Tom enjoyed going on motorbiking holidays (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n Leigh Day solicitor Zoe Donohue said: \u201cThe ordeal that Tom went through in the lead up to his death was a terrible one.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cJulia is hoping to\u00a0determine\u00a0whether\u00a0more could have been done to help Tom, and\u00a0if\u00a0a quicker diagnosis could have given him a stronger chance of\u00a0survival.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Dr Clare Hammell, chief medical officer and deputy chief executive for Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our thoughts are with Mr Frith\u2019s family and loved ones, and we are very sorry for the distress they have experienced. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n “As a legal claim has now been issued, it would not be appropriate for the trust to comment on the specific circumstances of Mr Frith\u2019s care or the allegations that have been raised.<\/p>\n
“We take any concerns about patient safety extremely seriously.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u00a0are cooperating fully with the legal process and are committed to making sure that any learning is carefully considered and shared in the right way.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe continually review learning from incidents, complaints and claims to help us improve care, including ongoing education and training for staff to support the recognition and management of rare but serious conditions.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Dr\u00a0Ava\u00a0Easton MBE, chief executive officer of Encephalitis International, said:\u00a0 “Encephalitis is a condition which can have a devastating impact, particularly when diagnosis is missed or delayed.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cCases of mis and late diagnoses are why we continue to promote better awareness and healthcare professional education on this condition.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cOur aim is to continue to educate more people about how to spot the symptoms of encephalitis, in the hope that we can take a significant step towards better preventing,\u00a0recognising\u00a0and managing this devastating brain condition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Frith died from encephalitis at Leighton Hospital on July 27, last year. His wife, Julia, claims his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-470071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}