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Tourist died as 'doctors waited for bribe'
AN unconscious holidaymaker died in an Indonesian hospital after doctors refused to treat him until they received hundreds of dollars in cash, it is claimed.
Dale Nord, from Ossett, near Wakefield, was allowed to die "while embassy officers and doctors stood and let him" for the sake of a $1,700 "bribe", according to an MP fighting for answers on behalf of Mr Nord's sister April.
By the time doctors received part of the money and agreed to treat 43-year-old Mr Nord, who was unconscious throughout, it was too late, Barnsley Central MP Eric Illsley said in a parliamentary debate.
Investigations carried out back in Yorkshire are understood to have concluded that he became severely dehydrated and could have survived if he had simply received fluids to rehydrate him.
His family and Mr Illsley claim that embassy officials initially refused to attend the hospital – because the duty officer did not have an interpreter and said he was "not used to doing that type of work". They also say embassy staff failed to help guarantee or pay the money.
Mr Illsley was so concerned he raised the matter in Parliament.
Mr Nord's father, who asked not be named, said: "We shed a tear every day. People come to this country and get all the help and care going, and yet the embassy allowed this to happen.
"How can somebody who is unconscious tell anyone to use their credit card? And yet the embassy weren't there to say 'look, go ahead with the treatment'."
Mr Illsley said the death was "entirely preventable". "Why was Mr Nord allowed to die while embassy officers and doctors stood and let him?" he said.
"Surely there is something wrong with the system when a man is admitted to hospital and dies in this way in 12 hours."
The Foreign Office, however, yesterday claimed that Mr Nord was never denied treatment and says the embassy provided all the help it could, including attending the hospital, although it admits the case was "tragic".
Mr Nord died in January while on holiday in Jakarta with his girlfriend Anna. He fell ill at his hotel and was unconscious by the time he arrived at hospital, but it is claimed that doctors demanded $1,700 in American dollars before they would treat him.
Mr Illsley said he received no treatment for "several hours" until friends managed to raise part of the demand – $700. "Contrary to what the Foreign Office has been told ... up until that point no treatment, be it good, bad or indifferent, had been given to Mr Nord," said Mr Illsley.
Unable to raise the money herself, Anna contacted April Nord who sought help from the embassy's emergency telephone line only to be told the duty officer was "not used to doing that type of work" and he "would not go to hospital until 7.30pm the following day" because he did not have an interpreter, according to Mr Illsley.
The official said the money was probably a bribe, although he did go to the hospital in the end.
"Throughout the time, the hospital was pressurising Mr Nord's companions for cash payments," said Mr Illsley. "It said that it could not put Mr Nord in intensive care until the money had been paid.
"It was made crystal clear to Mr Nord's companion that he would not be moved until money had changed hands."
The hospital refused to take credit card payment because they could not see the card, while the embassy refused to guarantee a payment or loan the money, in line with procedures.
Mr llsley said it was "strange" that, with Mr Nord clearly incapacitated, embassy staff could not have done more to help him.
Mr Nord's body was returned to the UK and the death is being investigated by the West Yorkshire Coroner. Mr Illsley said a post mortem has been carried out and specialists in the region put the death down to keto-acidosis, which can cause the body to become severely dehydrated.
"Had he been given fluids he would easily have been resuscitated," said Mr Illsley. "That death, according to the specialists, was entirely preventable."
Foreign Minister Bill Rammell said there were "discrepancies" between embassy records and Miss Nord's.
"Clearly, a particularly distressing issue for Mr Nord's family is their belief that treatment was withheld from Mr Nord until such time as the hospital received payment," he said. "Hospital treatment in Indonesia is not free and requires either a deposit or a confirmed undertaking to pay from an insurance policy, so it is not unusual that the friends who were with Mr Nord would have been asked for an initial payment.
"However, it is our clear understanding from what Mr Nord's friend said to the duty officer at the time that, in fact, the hospital did not withhold treatment from Mr Nord until it received the payment. Our belief is that Mr Nord was treated by the hospital throughout that night."
Mr Rammell said the Foreign & Commonwealth Office was unable to pay for medical costs of Britons hospitalised abroad, or provide financial guarantees, because the cost would be "colossal".
However, new procedures are being considered which would allow embassies to take credit card payments from families in similar cases.
He added: "I genuinely and deeply regret that this tragic situation has been made worse for Mr Nord's family by their belief that he was treated neither promptly nor correctly by medical staff, and by their dissatisfaction with the assistance that the duty officer at our embassy in Jakarta provided.
"However, I am satisfied that the duty officer provided the appropriate consular assistance".
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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