A Slatyford father who died from a severe head injury was escorted out of A&E at the Royal Victoria Infirmary by security hours after arriving, with a visible "bloody gash" on the back of his head, an inquest in Newcastle heard on Monday.
Lee Robson, 48, was brought to the hospital's emergency department by police at around 3am on September 3, 2024. He was triaged, and it was noted that he had a head injury and appeared intoxicated. In fact, he had a 10cm skull fracture, severe brain injuries, and a fractured spine.
Escorted out after six hours
The court heard that after being triaged, Mr Robson was not seen by a clinician for around six hours. Advanced nurse practitioner Jen Paton, who started work at around 8am that day, attempted an assessment at around 9am. She told the court she had not seen the triage form entry noting his head injury, and her understanding was that he had been brought in due to intoxication.
Ms Paton said she tried to persuade Mr Robson to come to a treatment room for a full assessment, but he said he wanted to sleep for another hour. Footage shown to the court showed security personnel escorting Mr Robson from the premises towards the exit on Richardson Road, opposite Leazes Park. Body-worn footage captured one security officer telling him: "Get yourself home and get some sleep."
Care escalated after deterioration
After he was brought back to hospital during the early afternoon of September 3, his condition had deteriorated and the head injury was spotted. His care was escalated, he had a CT scan, and was referred to the neurosurgery team. His condition did not improve, and he died on September 4. The court heard he had been an organ donor.
Consultant neurosurgeon Patrick Mitchell told the court that Mr Robson had experienced "talk and die" syndrome and had been "extremely unlucky" in where he suffered the injury - on the back of his head. Mr Mitchell said the severe injuries were caused by a single event and "had not been contributed to by later events". He added: "Unfortunately the injury was of such severity that no treatment was going to help."
Safety investigation findings
Dr Kathryn Suzanne Jackson, clinical director at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, carried out a patient safety investigation after Mr Robson's death. She raised concerns over a "lack of robust triage support" for staff using a complicated system and a lack of oversight of patients in the waiting room. She also questioned the scope of the "rapid observation nurse" role, which would have carried out observations of Mr Robson after triage - this did not occur.
Pathologist Dr Nigel Cooper confirmed the formal cause of death as "blunt head injury". The inquest continues and is due to conclude on Tuesday, September 29.
