A Crufts champion dog breeder died from sepsis after a missed diagnosis, and a wait of more than two hours on his second visit to hospital, an inquest has heard.
A coroner said Alan Hunter, 53, might still be alive today if he had been properly diagnosed and treated within the set standards, Grimsby Live reported. Alan, from East Halton, near Grimsby, died just a few weeks after his Great Dane, Phoebe, won the Best Bitch in Show award at Crufts in 2019.
At the two-day hearing at Cleethorpes Town Hall, Marianne Johnson, the assistant coroner for Lincolnshire, said the case highlighted the need for urgent action if sepsis is suspected. She was told that following the case, there had been significant improvements in the care of emergency patients, specifically those suspected of having sepsis, at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby. All are now seen within 15 minutes.
