NHS Trust liable for Huntingdon dad-to-be's death at 31

Adam Hurst, who was 31 at the time of his death, arrived at Hinchingbrooke Hospital with pains that left him rolling on the floor. He was assessed in the 'minor' A&E department.

An internal NHS investigation report found that Adam had to wait in Hinchingbrooke Hospital's A&E department for 50 minutes before he was seen.

The report found that there was a further delay in Adam's care after a fire alarm went off in the radiology department, which delayed Adam's CT scan by nearly an hour.

A CT scan found that Adam had an undetected congenital diaphragmatic hernia and fluid in his stomach. He was sent to a surgical ward for a planned pre-operative assessment.

Five hours after Adam was admitted to Hinchingbrooke Hospital, he suffered a cardiac arrest on the surgical ward. He tragically died around 50 minutes later at the Huntingdon hospital.

Adam left behind his wife, Victoria Hurst, who was 25 weeks pregnant at the time of his death. Victoria went on to give birth to their child, who is named Alice-Rose Adam Hurst.

The North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Hinchingbrooke Hospital, has apologised for "failing" Adam and his family. 

Joanne Bennis, the Chief Nurse for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We would like to offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to Adam's family. 

"We always try to do our best for our patients, but on this occasion, we failed Adam and his family, and for that we are truly sorry. Our staff strive to provide high quality care at all times, and this was not the case in this instance."

Legal submissions were sent to the NHS Trust by Irwin Mitchell, who represented Adam's wife, Victoria. The submissions led to the Trust admitting that if Adam had undergone surgery at any time prior to his cardiac arrest, he would have survived.

An internal serious incident report by the NHS Trust found that it was "unable to accommodate a seriously unwell patient in 'major's' (A&E) at the time of admission". 

It also found that there was "inadequate pain management of Adam's condition; an inadequate frequency of observations; and inadequate communication, both verbal and written between staff."

Joanne Bennis, of the Trust, confirmed that after a "thorough investigation we have implemented several changes that will help to prevent failings like this happening again."

Victoria, Adam's wife, said: "One of the hardest things to come to terms with is how he never got to meet Alice-Rose. He was so excited to become a dad; it’s all he could talk about. I know he would have been the most amazing dad.

“While Alice-Rose will grow up without her dad, we’ll never forget Adam. I tell Alice-Rose every day how much her daddy would have loved her and how proud he would be.

She described Adam as "the most loving, caring and affectionate person. He was always happy and would go out of his way to help people. He didn’t deserve to die, especially in the avoidable way he did."

Victoria has set up the Adam's Rose Charity, which aims to support people who are experiencing the death of a loved one. Victoria's charity also provides bereaved families with bags to take their loved one's belonging's home from hospital.

More information on Victoria's charity can be found at www.adamsrose.co.uk