A YOUNG heart attack victim was found dead on the floor of a hospital cubicle after waiting three hours to see a doctor, highlighting staffing problems there.

36-year-old Paul Ashdown, of London Road, High Wycombe, died in the accident and emergency department of Wycombe Hospital on a night when the unit was under pressure, an inquest heard on Monday.

Elizabeth Pearson, staff nurse for the night shift, told the inquest that A&E had been forced to use a separate assessment unit for A&E patients but did not have enough staff to cover it.

Buckinghamshire Coroner Richard Hulett recorded a verdict of natural causes and said all that could be done, was done for Mr Ashdown against a 'background that was not satisfactory and quite often the reasons for this went to much higher levels of administration'. He said they were quite possibly 'under staffed and under pressure'.

Mr Hulett said he did not believe the events contributed to Mr Ashdown's death or that it could have been prevented but said there was a certain amount of 'professional unease' as to whether the same thing might happen to someone else on another occasion.

After the inquest, Mr Ashdown's parents said they hoped their son's death helped highlight problems faced by Wycombe Hospital.

Mother-of-two Joan Ashdown, of Great Kingshill, said her son, who worked as an IT consultant, had seemed healthy and had only suffered flu-like symptoms a few days before going to hospital.

She said: "I know the staff did everything they could and have been very kind but it is not right that they are under so much pressure. If Paul's death has helped to highlight the need for more doctors and nurses then I am glad but the whole thing is still a big shock to the family and we are still coming to terms with it."

Irene Patterson was the staff nurse in A & E when Mr Ashdown came in on January 15 feeling short of breath. She assessed his condition when he arrived at around 9pm and said he appeared to be panicking but did not have any chest pain, which would be typical of a heart attack victim.

He showed symptoms similar to that of a panic attack and even if they had carried out further tests, they still could have showed up as normal.

Ms Patterson had advised he be assessed by a doctor and said that under the hospital's assessment system he would ideally be looked at within two hours.

He was taken to a separate bay because he was suffering from stress and was anxious. Nursing staff gave him a paper bag to help regulate his breathing.

But the inquest heard he waited around three hours for a doctor, the average waiting time that night for someone in the same category as Mr Ashdown.

When Dr Daniel Neen, senior house officer attached to A & E, got there at 12.05am, Mr Ashdown was laying on the floor of the cubicle without a pulse. Dr Neen said he and nursing staff dragged him to the resuscitation unit but could not revive him.

Dr David Bailey, consultant pathologist for the South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust, which is responsible for the hospital, carried out a post-mortem on Mr Ashdown and found he suffered a heart attack a few days before going to the hospital but had died because of furring-up of his artery and a thrombosis which blocked the artery.

David Potts, A & E consultant, said the part of Mr Ashdown's heart affected does not register normal symptoms and it may have been what is called a silent heart attack. He said Mr Ashdown's symptoms were dealt with in a normal way and would not have led staff to think his condition was as serious as it was.

He said the department had been rather full on January 15, but no more than it often was.

Understaffed and under pressure

Buckinghamshire Coroner Richard Hulett said the hospital was quite possibly 'under staffed and under pressure'

He said all that could be done, was done for Mr Ashdown. But he said they worked against a 'background that was not satisfactory and quite often the reasons for this went to much higher levels of administration'.

Elizabeth Pearson, staff nurse for the night shift, told the inquest they faced staffing problems on the night Mr Ashdown died.

She said they should have had two people to staff the Assessment Unit, which was intended to be used for GP referrals but had ended up as an overflow for the A & E Department.

She added that because they could not staff the unit from the department, they expected agency workers to turn up but they never came.

That night she was told by senior staff she could shut the unit if she could not find the staff and instead bring patients back to A &E.