A teenager who died of blood poisoning could easily have been saved had four doctors not repeatedly misdiagnosed his illness as flu, an inquest was told.
Greg Bear was seen by three doctors and two paramedics who examined him six days before he died.
The 17-year-old would have had a 90 per cent chance of survival had he been admitted to hospital sooner, it emerged today.
An inquest was told his mother Elizabeth begged a paramedic to take him to hospital after he coughed up blood – a key symptom of septicaemia – but was told he was not ill enough and suggested he took paracetamol.
The paramedic is said to have told her: “If I was to take every 17-year-old boy coughing up blood, the system would grind to a halt.”The next day Greg’s condition worsened, but when his mother phoned a trainee GPfor help he again shrugged off her concerns.
Hours later Mrs Bear dialled 999, and Greg was finally taken to Kings Mill Hospital in Nottingham on December 21, 2010, but died the following morning.
An inquest heard Greg, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottingham, first went to his GP on December 16 – the day after his 17th birthday - and was told he had a “nasty cold, possibly flu”.
Days later he developed “uncomplicated septicaemia”, which would have been cured by a course of antibiotics, but was again wrongly diagnosed with flu.
Mrs Bear told the inquest, at Nottingham Coroners Court, how she had been left frustrated by paramedic Keith Knowles who examined Greg two days before he died.
She told the hearing: “I asked if he needed to go to hospital but he said ‘if I was to take every 17-year-old who was coughing up blood to hospital, the system would grind to a halt’.”
The day before he died Mrs Bear called Willowbrook Medical Practice but GP Dr Christopher Cope, who was newly qualified, failed to recognise Greg needed urgent medical attention.
The inquest heard Dr Christopher Cope told Elizabeth Bear to bring Greg into the surgery but failed to record the information about his deteriorating condition.
Dr Cope, who is now fully qualified, told the inquest: "I didn't appreciate the blue tinge to him while talking to Mrs Bear.
"I cannot for the life of me understand why. I deeply regret not picking that up."
A post-mortem examination found Greg died of septicaemia, or blood poisoning, with his condition caused by him having bronchopneumonia and flu.
Mrs Bear added: “Greg was red and had pain in his groin and bottom, he was burning up, he was coughing up blood and bile.
“He was in excruciating agony, his fingers were blue, his face was red and hot.
“We were told to keep giving him paracetamol and to come in if he got worse.
“I thought I wasn’t getting anywhere, I was left not knowing what to do.”
Recording a narrative verdict, deputy coroner for Nottinghamshire, Heidi Connor, said: “Greg died from septicaemia. It's likely when his GP was first consulted, Greg was suffering only from a viral infection.
"From the 19th onwards Greg's strength of character was such that he didn't appear as unwell as he was.
"To Greg's family there aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe what you have been through.
"As a family your dignity throughout these proceedings has been nothing short of inspirational.
"You have done your son proud, if he was anything like his parents, he must have been quite a lad."
After the hearing Greg's parents Gary and Elizabeth said they hoped lessons had been learned.
"Hopefully we can take something positive away from the tragic catalogue of errors which took our son away from us," Gary said.
"We hope medical professionals can become better at
spotting the early signs of sepsis so it can be spotted early and lives can be saved.
"We don't want anyone to go through what we've been through.
"Something as simple as asking when someone last passed urine can save lives. If it's a long time it's more than likely they need to go to hospital.
"Greg was inspirational to his friends. He was well liked by everyone. He would literally do anything for anyone."
Dr Jim Grey, medical director of East Midlands Ambulance Service said all staff have been given new guidance on recognising early signs of sepsis.
He said: "Greg's death has been very important in recognising the issue of Sepsis, as an entity, and how awareness can be raised to get better understanding of the condition, and management of it, it to avoid future preventable deaths."
