Senior doctor tells of ‘betrayal’ over son’s death at hospital where she worked

A senior doctor has told of her “feelings of betrayal” over her son’s death at the hospital where she worked, an inquest heard.

William Hewes died aged 22 at Homerton University Hospital in January 2023 within 24 hours of being admitted after his meningitis, caused by a meningococcal infection, developed into sepsis.

The sporty 6ft 6in young man, who was studying history and politics at university, was said to have been fit and healthy before the infection.

Consultant paediatrician Deborah Burns, Mr Hewes’ mother, was a doctor at the east London hospital for more than 20 years, but she has not returned to work since her son’s death.

Bow Coroners’ Court heard Mr Hewes arrived at the hospital at 12.06am, was quickly admitted to the hospital’s resuscitation area – “resus” – before arriving at the intensive care unit (ICU) around 4am.

Extracts from Dr Burns’ statement were read by the coroner on Friday in which she expressed her belief that 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”.

She also entered the witness box to deliver a pen portrait of Mr Hewes, saying she and her family feel they have “lost a mighty human being”.

“The grief will never go away”, she told the court.

“It is impossible for words to describe adequately the pain of this immense loss and the feelings of betrayal that I feel about William’s death and the aftermath.”

On Thursday, the inquest heard that medical staff failed to swiftly administer antibiotics to Mr Hewes, and failed to do so within an hour of his arrival at hospital as per national guidelines.

Doctors and nurses involved in his care said they did not recall Dr Burns flagging to them that her son had yet to receive the medicine before he was finally given antibiotics at 1.25am.

In her statement, Dr Burns said: “In terms of the antibiotics I believe that these were only given when they were because I was there. I raised concern about the lack of antibiotics eight times before they were administered.”

She explained he originally only had one cannula via which he received one type of medication at a time – ondansetron, fluid, two doses of morphine and paracetamol.

“By 1.15am I had become desperate and tried to squeeze some of the paracetamol through in order to free up the cannula for the antibiotics,” the consultant paediatrician said.

“From my direct experience as a witness, what I have seen in the notes, on CCTV and in statements, medical staff involved in William’s care failed to observe him in any clinically useful way.

“He was not himself. He was increasingly uncomfortable and agitated, he had poor perfusion with cold peripheries, he had blurred vision on arrival and his vision deteriorated.

“I believe that he was left unmonitored and untreated in resus for far too long.

“In my view his care was no better on the intensive care unit until it was too late.”

Of his treatment in the ICU, Dr Burns told of her “deep despair” when the decision was made to intubate her son and described his room as a “scene of chaos” at points with “a very tense atmosphere”.

“I had a suspicion we would lose him completely as his blood pressure would fall on intubation,” she said in her statement.

“It was at this point I decided to call William’s father as I suspected he would never see William again if he didn’t come to the hospital as soon as possible.”

In her pen portrait of Mr Hewes, Dr Burns said her youngest son was “adored”.

“He was fiercely intelligent, insightful and very funny,” she told the court.

“Sometimes just catching his eye would cause riotous laughter and it was often at himself.

“He was exceptionally good at having fun and took people along with him. One of his university friends said if he was part of your group or even just in the same room you knew you were going to have a really good time.

“He made people smile by just turning up.”

She paid tribute to him as an “irrepressible” singer – the loudest voice at any Arsenal match – and a talented chef who loved to cook for others.

“The world is a quieter and less vibrant place without him,” she said. “We feel we have lost a mighty human being.”

Dr Mathuratha Sivasubramaniam, the ICU registrar working the evening Mr Hewes was admitted, was asked to review him multiple times before she phoned the ICU consultant on call and a decision was made to transfer Mr Hewes to intensive care, the inquest heard.

Having moved abroad since the time of the events, she was not called to give oral evidence to the inquest but her statement was read out in which she explained her initial decisions not to admit Mr Hewes to the ICU.

The consultant on call that night, Dr Petr Dlouhy, told the coroner on Friday that Dr Sivasubramaniam “should have” called him earlier and that if she had he would have admitted Mr Hewes then.

He said he did not know whether moving him earlier would have made a difference to the outcome, but accepted it is likely some treatments would have been started sooner.

Dr Ron Daniels, founder and chief executive of the UK Sepsis Trust, told the court he believed Mr Hewes was likely to have survived if he had received prompt care, and said it is “perfectly possible” for non-specialist medical staff to deliver the necessary treatment.

He added that even if the outcome remained the same, “at least we would have had a family who knew that everything had been done and that this was just terrible fate”.

Outlining Mr Hewes’ symptoms, Dr Daniels said: “This is the patient for whom we drop everything and absolutely focus with laser sharp priority.”

Gerry Boyle KC, for the hospital, questioned when the hour within which antibiotics should be administered started, highlighting that the emergency medicine registrar only diagnosed Mr Hewes at around 12.30am.

Dr Daniels said: “The trust may wish to argue that point… but the intent was from the first available opportunity to make the diagnosis.”

The inquest continues on March 12.