Exclusive: Widow still seeking answers over tragic hospital failings

A police investigation was launched into the treatment of Tony Cartwright, 39, who was rushed to Harrogate Hospital after developing severe breathing difficulties due to a rare throat complaint.

Doctors decided to transfer him to hospital in York but his condition deteriorated before the ambulance even left the hospital. He stopped breathing for at least four minutes, leaving him with catastrophic brain damage, and died 33 days later with his family at his bedside.

Detectives investigated three doctors involved in his care for manslaughter by gross negligence, as well as the hospital for corporate manslaughter, but prosecutors decided against pursuing the cases. Two doctors involved were also reported to the General Medical Council which took no action.

Bosses at the hospital, which is consistently rated one of the best performing in the country, admitted mistakes and his devastated wife Debra and son Josh have been awarded damages.

But nearly three years on they are still awaiting an inquest and do not know what happened in the critical moments before his collapse, which tragically coincided with Josh’s 11th birthday.

Reports showed doctors failed to diagnose him as suffering from epiglottitis, a dangerous and highly unpredictable condition which leads to the airway narrowing. Patients deteriorate rapidly if they remain untreated.

Doctors treating Mr Cartwright decided to transfer him for specialist care in York without ensuring his airway was secure despite the high risks amid evidence of his breathing difficulties and in contravention of both national and hospital guidelines.

Resuscitation efforts were complicated when a scalpel to carry out emergency surgery was missing from an equipment kit.

Mrs Cartwright, 49, who lives near York, said she and Josh had been left “desolate”.

She had many questions about what happened in A&E at Harrogate and her husband’s final moments of consciousness.

There had been a series of failings in his care and she could not understand why doctors had decided to transfer him.

“I have many concerns about the care that Tony received. I just want to know exactly what happened to him,” she said. “How could it have gone so terribly wrong – what an earth happened? It was such a shock to lose somebody who went into hospital with a sore throat.”

Concerns raised by doctors at York, the coroner’s officer and the family triggered the inquiry by North Yorkshire Police but she had been “mortified” when the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to proceed nine months later. No date has yet been set for an inquest into his death.

The hospital admitted breach in duty of care in the attempt to transfer Mr Cartwright when there were difficulties with his breathing.

The Yorkshire Post understands there were no written agreements over transfers of patients between Harrogate and York hospitals and that the Harrogate trust has since reviewed its procedures for assessing patients with respiratory compromise.

In a statement, medical director Carl Gray, said: “We would like to express our profound condolences to Mr Cartwright’s family on his tragic death and repeat our apology to them for the failures that occurred in his care.

“Two members of staff were reported to the General Medical Council who carefully examined the case and concluded their investigations without taking any further action.

“The trust has implemented a number of actions, which have been reported to the coroner, and we must now await the outcome of the inquest.”

A CPS spokesman said a lawyer from its special crime division had reviewed evidence gathered by police and concluded there was “insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction in relation to any criminal offence”.