Warwickshire man died after being told to walk by paramedic

Jun 28 2010 by Jonny Greatrex, Sunday Mercury

A PATIENT suffered a heart attack and died on his doorstep after a paramedic wrongly diagnosed asthma – then told him to WALK to an emergency vehicle.

The 54 year-old had spent the previous night in so much pain that he could not get out of his chair.

But when medic Marcus Galligan, from Rugby, Warwickshire, visited his home in December 2009, he assumed the patient had a mild chest complaint.

The paramedic told him to walk to a Rapid Response Vehicle so he could take him to a nearby hospital – but the patient collapsed and died just yards from his front door.

Last week, Mr Galligan appeared before regulators at the Health Professions Council (HPC), and was found guilty of misconduct. Despite the finding, he was allowed to keep his job by the regulatory board.

“We find these facts do indeed establish misconduct,” said Colin Allies, the panel chairman, at a hearing in London.

“It is central to this finding that Mr Galligan knew full well the standards to which he should have been working, and knowingly departed from those standards.

“They were serious defaults and each of the shortcomings demonstrated a departure from required standards which the panel is entirely satisfied Mr Galligan knew he should have been working to.

“Mr Galligan’s response to these allegations has shown only limited insight into his shortcomings.”

The paramedic, who is in his 30s, was called to the patient’s address after the middle-aged man’s sister made a 999 call. She told operators that her brother had a history of asthma and had spent all night in a chair with chest pains.