A DAD is blaming a controversial NHS 111 computer program for the death of his teenage son.
Alex Davidson should have been sent to a GP within two hours of calling with stomach agony.
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But Alex, 17, was only advised to contact his practice within six hours.
His condition caused multi-organ failure. He is the 12th to die due to alleged failings of NHS Pathways, which sets the questions for 111 staff.
He passed away on February 26 2018 after losing a three week battle for life in intensive care at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
Dad John, 49, of Mansfield, Notts, said: “No one listened to Alex and took his symptoms seriously, neither NHS 111 or any of the doctors he saw.”
Now the Coroner for Nottinghamshire, Laurinda Bower has issued a prevention of future deaths letter to NHS England, NHS 111 and NHS Digital which provides the computer programme.
Alex was ejecting black vomit and passing black stools, signs of internal bleeding and a serious problem.
The teenager, from Mansfield, Notts, “struggled to comprehend” the medical terminology used during conversations with 111 call handlers, who used ‘coffee grounds’ and ‘soil’ in their questions to him.
The confusion led to delays in the teenager getting urgent treatment for a condition that caused him to die from multi organ failure and sepsis six weeks later.
