A father-of-two who died after an ear infection spread to his brain had been sent home from an NHS walk-in centre with ear drops, despite being unable to walk and not having not eaten for week, it was claimed.
Rikki Baker, 31, was sweating profusely, shielding his eyes from the daylight, vomiting and had a discharge pouring from his ear when his family took him to the accident and emergency department at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital on July 24 last year.
His mother Jill said she had to prop up her son as he was unable to walk unaided because he was so weak and disorientated.
But rather than being seen by doctors in the A&E department, they were sent by a receptionist to a walk-in centre where Mr Baker was apparently briefly examined by a nurse, who diagnosed an ear infection, prescribed ear drops and sent him home.
Over the next two days Mr Baker's condition worsened rapidly to the point where he began drifting in and out of consciousness.
His wife Alicia claims that despite ringing the on-call service, Devon Doctors and NHS Direct several times, she was not advised to get him back to the hospital.
By July 26th he became delirious and was lashing out unaware of where he was. Mrs Baker called an ambulance and they were rushed back to Exeter's main hospital but Mr Baker died four days later.
The cause of death was brain damage and swelling caused by blood poisoning as a result of acute infection of the middle ear.
Now Mrs Baker has launched a legal action against the hospital.
Rikki and Alicia Baker, from Exeter, were childhood sweethearts after meeting at school - had two sons, George, six, and four year old Eddie.
Alicia, 29, said: 'I watched helplessly as his condition deteriorated.
'Rikki's death has left me heartbroken. We had been together for 14 years and we were totally devoted to each other.
source: dailymail.co.uk
www.gocompensate.com
www.devonclaims.co.uk
