Northampton man Luke Abrahams, aged 20, was incorrectly diagnosed with sciatica again following video consultation, inquest hears
An out-of-hours doctor told an inquest he diagnosed Northampton man Luke Abrahams with sciatica following a video consultation, which later proved incorrect.
The full inquest into the death of the 20-year-old began on Tuesday, January 20, almost three years after he died, and is expected to continue until Friday.
Luke, from East Hunsbury, died at Northampton General Hospital on January 23, 2023, after first complaining of a sore throat a week before his death, which later led to sepsis and then necrotising fasciitis – a rare but life-threatening infection often described as a “flesh-eating disease”.
His death was initially recorded as natural causes and no inquest was opened. However, his parents, Richard Abrahams and Julie Needham, successfully pushed for a formal investigation with the support of Hudgell Solicitors. The inquest was later confirmed by Anne Pember, Senior Coroner for Northamptonshire.
The inquest continued this afternoon (Tuesday, January 20) with evidence from Dr Olaitan, who appeared via Zoom from Canada. Dr Olaitan was working as an out-of-hours GP for DHU Healthcare on behalf of NHS 111 at the time.
Dr Olaitan told the court Luke contacted NHS 111 in the early hours of January 20, 2023. The call was passed to the out-of-hours service and he contacted Luke by telephone before carrying out a video consultation from the out-of-hours base at Northampton General Hospital.
“He complained of leg pain and a throat infection,” Dr Olaitan said. “I asked if the throat infection was getting better and if he was on antibiotics. I was told it was getting better. Luke said, ‘yeah, it’s just the leg now’, so I proceeded to the leg pain.”
Dr Olaitan said Luke was in too much pain to attend the hospital in person and was struggling to get down the stairs at home, so a video assessment was carried out.
He said the video call was used to assess Luke’s level of consciousness, communication and to look for red flag symptoms such as rashes or skin changes. He said there were no visible signs of redness, rash or discolouration to suggest a serious infection like necrotising fasciitis, which Luke later died from.
“There was just pain in the back, buttock and leg,” he said.
Dr Olaitan said he offered stronger pain relief and prescribed naproxen, believing Luke was suffering from sciatica. As no pharmacy was open, the medication had to be collected from Northampton General Hospital.
Asked why the throat infection was not explored further, he said: “Based on the fact Luke said it was getting better and he was on antibiotics, I didn’t explore that further.”
Under questioning from the family’s solicitor, Dr Olaitan accepted he would not expect a temperature with sciatica, but said Luke’s raised temperature could be linked to the throat infection.
He told the inquest his working diagnosis was sciatica alongside a throat infection and said he did not consider a connection between the two at the time.
Dr Olaitan also told the court he was unaware Luke had contacted NHS 111 several times in the days before January 20 or that he had attended Northampton General Hospital earlier that week.
“Ideally, I always want to see my patients face to face,” he said.
The inquest continues.