June 9, 2021 4.04 pm This story is over 32 months old

Hospital trust sorry over missing Lincoln man’s fatal heart tear

They admitted care fell below the expected standard

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) has apologised after doctors missed a patient’s heart tear and sent him home before he sadly died later the same week.

Andrew Stevenson, 47, was cycling and started suffering from a number of worrying symptoms, so he went to Lincoln County Hospital.

The tear near his heart was not spotted and on Sunday, December 13, 2020 Andrew, who was the Director of Research & Enterprise at the University of Lincoln, tragically passed away.

An inquest heard that he was taken to Lincoln County Hospital with a list of symptoms that should have put doctors on high alert, according to BBC Radio Lincolnshire, while ULHT carried out a fully investigation.

ULHT Medical Director Dr Neill Hepburn said: “We extend our deepest and unreserved apologies to the family of Andrew Stevenson, his care fell below the standard we would expect, and there was an opportunity for us to identify how unwell he was much earlier than we did.

“We have fully investigated this case and worked on initiatives to raise awareness of aortic dissection diagnostics, which are particularly difficult to identify, to ensure this does not happen again.

“This has included introducing new screening and assessment tools in our emergency departments, specifically dedicated to early identification of aortic dissection.”

Andrew’s brother Ben told BBC Radio Lincolnshire: “They didn’t look at the ambulance notes, they didn’t do a CT scan, they didn’t put ‘look at the number of symptoms he was showing’.

“That morning my brother could walk, run and cycle and by the end of the day he couldn’t.

“My nephew, Andrew’s son, is 10 and doesn’t have his father anymore. In two weeks it’s Father’s Day. I’ll be with my dad on Father’s Day but there will be somebody missing. It’s left me feeling that there’s part of me that’s not here and that part of me can never be replaced.”

A fundraiser set up by Andrew’s partner Stephanie Maloney after his death raised over £7,700 to help Heart Research UK fund their work on aortic dissection.