‘Missed’ opportunities before death of Cameron Duxbury

Cameron Duxbury, from Egerton, an ex-Turton School student described as ‘a man brimming with life, love and potential’, died at Royal Bolton in October 2020.

Around six weeks earlier Mr Duxbury was admitted to hospital and he was diagnosed with an auto-immune condition affecting his digestive system, for which he underwent steroid treatment then surgical treatment, but he deteriorated due to a secondary auto-immune condition which was not diagnosed. This was in spite of symptoms such as a temperature, skin rash and weight loss.

At the end of an inquest on June 30 senior coroner Timothy Brennand said opportunities were missed in the care of Mr Duxbury which, if taken, would have prolonged his life in the short-term.

But he stopped short of saying this would have saved his life in the long term in particular in light of the rarity of the secondary auto-immune condition and the pressure on the NHS at the time.

Mr Brennand said: “The accepted or established sub-optimal treatment, whether individually or collectively, combined with the deceased’s weight loss and skin rash, represented a series of missed opportunities to have evaluated, re-evaluated and diagnosed the fact the deceased was suffering from a secondary auto-immune disorder and to have commenced treatment which, on balance, would have prolonged his life, albeit the bearing upon the outcome cannot be evaluated.”

In attendance at the inquest were parents Nigel Duxbury and Cherise Duxbury as well as sister Caitlin Duxbury.

A photo of Mr Duxbury sat on top of the table in front of them as Mr Brennand came to a narrative conclusion.

A statement from the family reads: “This inquest was to give Cameron a voice. Today we are able to give him the answers he was never given by those who were entrusted to care for him. We hope no family ever experiences what we have. Our pain and loss is made harder knowing he could have been here with us today.

“No words will ever convey the sadness we feel. Cameron will be missed more than words can ever say. He will never be forgotten and he will always be remembered with love and affection.”

Francis Andrews, the medical director at the trust responsible for Royal Bolton, said: “First of all I would like to extend my sincere condolences to Cameron’s family.

“My thoughts remain with them all as they continue to come to terms with such a tragic loss.

“We accept the outcome of the inquest and we are sorry the standards of care Cameron received during the pandemic at times could have been better.

“Our commitment to the family and all who knew Cameron is to make sure that we continue to learn as much as we possibly can to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.”

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.

Source – INDIA TV