A coroner has opened an investigation into the death of south London man Alexander Harry Day following treatment at the East Ham Care Centre in Shrewsbury Road.
An inquest into his death was opened at East London Coroner’s Court, Walthamstow, on Thursday, May 1.
Mr Day, 78, of Prusom Street, Wapping, attended the care centre on October 2 last year with “acute urinary retention” – meaning he was struggling to pass water.
The care centre fitted him with a catheter.
But two days later, on October 4, Mr Day was “found unresponsive”, senior east London coroner Graeme Irvine told the court.
He was rushed by ambulance to Newham Hospital, where he was “found to have signs of sepsis”.
Despite efforts to treat the condition, he died on October 7.
The death was referred to the coroner by Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs Newham Hospital, over concerns Mr Day’s death may have been contributed to by medical intervention.
An autopsy was conducted on October 24 and his provisional cause of death has been given as sepsis caused by a urinary tract infection.
Mr Irvine said that as the cause of the sepsis could have been the fitting of Mr Day’s catheter, “it is proper that this case is examined further”.
He declared both Mr Day’s family and the care centre interested parties in the inquest – a legal status entitling them to access evidence ahead of the final inquest and question any witnesses called to testify.
He ordered disclosure of evidence from Mr Day’s GP, the ambulance service, the care centre and the hospital.
Among the evidence he ordered was a statement from the nurse involved in administering the catheter.
The final inquest was provisionally listed for July 25.
