Latest news with #SteveJames
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Daughter of a former England cricketer died from sepsis, pneumonia and Chron's disease after paramedics failed to alert doctors to her symptoms
The tragic daughter of a former England cricketer would have survived if medics had treated her properly, a coroner ruled today. Bethan James, 21, daughter of ex-England and Glamorgan batsman Steve James had visited hospital multiple times in the days leading up to her death - but she continued to be ill when released home. Paramedics were called to her house when she deteriorated at home - but a coroner found delays in her treatment and a lack of urgency. By the time she was seen at hospital Bethan was gravely ill and died with sepsis within hours of being admitted to the emergency department. Her sports journalist father had been covering the Six Nations rugby match between Wales and Ireland in Dublin when his daughter was taken seriously ill. But due to weather delays was unable to get home and see her before she died. The inquest heard ambulance staff attending Bethan's home had not requested emergency backup, struggled to insert an IV line, and did not issue a pre-alert to the hospital to warn them of her serious condition before she was admitted. On arrival to University Hospital Wales, Cardiff, Bethan was admitted to the less serious 'majors' unit rather than to resus where medics held a 'cognitive bias' to more immediate treatment. The hearing was told that a lactate reading obtained an hour after her arrival eventually prompted more senior doctors to become involved in her care. Senior Coroner Patricia Morgan said: 'I find that if earlier recognition and prompt action in response to Bethan's condition by ambulance services had occurred this would have resulted in a pre-alert to the emergency department. 'This would, and ought to have, resulted in direct admission to resus with clinical staff waiting for her.' She added: 'Earlier treatment would and ought to have commenced' and that 'the involvement of other specialists would and ought to have occurred at an earlier stage.' 'Cognitive bias towards resus patients, as described by Dr Thomas, would have been directed in Bethan's favour from the time of her arrival rather than once the lactate result was available. 'On balance, I find that had this direct admission to resus and prompt recognition and treatment occurred, then cardiac arrest would not have occurred when it did, which would have enabled more time for other specialities to become involved in Bethan's care. 'On balance I find that Bethan would not have died.' A post-mortem examination found Bethan died from a combination of sepsis, pneumonia and Crohn's disease. Bethan had been diagnosed with Crohn's in the previous months and had been admitted to hospital on a number of occasions in the days leading up to her death but sepsis was never diagnosed. During the hearing, her mother Jane James the court she felt medical staff missed opportunities to treat journalism student Bethan for sepsis and had been 'dismissive' of her condition. She said: 'It's heartbreaking as a mum to know that her life could have been saved.' Mrs James described Bethan as a 'caring and beautiful' beautiful person who would have made a 'brilliant' journalist. Giving a narrative conclusion the coroner said Bethan had attended hospital 'multiple occasions' between 27/1/2020 and 6/2/2020 but was repeatedly sent home. Ms Morgan said: 'Bethan was reluctant to return hospital due to her lack of confidence arising from earlier attendances at hospital.' When her condition deteriorated on February 8, 2020 her mother Jane dialled 999 and a rapid responder arrived at her home. Ms Morgan said: 'The rapid responder identified Bethan was in need of admission to hospital and request a back up ambulance at a non-urgent grade of P3, Bethan's condition warranted an emergency response. 'There was no pre-alert issued to hospital to make them aware of the seriousness of her condition. 'Bethan was transferred to the UHW majors area of the department when she should admitted directly to resus. 'There was an extended transfer between ambulance and hospital and a delay in recognising Bethan's critical condition once she was admitted. 'This delayed the escalation of her treatment and the input of specialty doctors into her care. 'Bethan sadly went into cardiac arrest and died.' Following the ruling Ms Morgan offered her condolences to Bethan's parents who had sat through the hearing.
The Sun
17-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Cricket star's daughter, 21, ‘could have been saved' having visited hospital ‘multiple times', rules inquest
THE daughter of a former England cricketer would not have died if doctors and paramedics had acted faster, a coroner ruled today. Bethan Amy James, 21 , daughter of ex-England and Glamorgan batsman Steve James, died from sepsis after being sent home from hospital multiple times in the days before her death. 3 3 Despite repeated visits to A&E, she was discharged while still seriously unwell. She collapsed at home on February 8, 2020. Paramedics were called but delays and a lack of urgency meant she was not treated quickly enough. By the time she was finally seen in hospital, Bethan was gravely ill and died within hours. Her dad Steve had been in Dublin covering the Six Nations match between Wales and Ireland, but due to weather delays, was unable to get back in time to see her before she passed away. An inquest heard ambulance crews struggled to insert a line, failed to call for urgent backup, and didn't alert the hospital to her worsening condition. Bethan was taken to University Hospital Wales in Cardiff, but instead of being rushed into resus, she was taken to the 'majors' unit where medics failed to grasp how sick she was. Only after a high lactate reading - a sign the body isn't getting enough oxygen and could be shutting down - taken an hour later, did senior doctors intervene. Senior Coroner Patricia Morgan said: "I find that if earlier recognition and prompt action in response to Bethan's condition by ambulance services had occurred this would have resulted in a pre-alert to the emergency department. "This would, and ought to have, resulted in direct admission to resus with clinical staff waiting for her." She added: "Earlier treatment would and ought to have commenced" and that "the involvement of other specialists would and ought to have occurred at an earlier stage." "On balance, I find that had this direct admission to resus and prompt recognition and treatment occurred, then cardiac arrest would not have occurred when it did." "On balance I find that Bethan would not have died." A post-mortem found Bethan died from a combination of sepsis, pneumonia and Crohn's disease. Sepsis is the body's extreme reaction to an infection, where it starts attacking its own organs and tissues, while pneumonia is a severe lung infection. Crohn's is a lifelong condition whereby parts of the digestive system become inflamed. She had only recently been diagnosed with Crohn's and had been in and out of hospital in the days leading up to her death. 3 But sepsis was never picked up. 'Caring' and 'beautiful' Her mother Jane James told the hearing she felt medics repeatedly missed opportunities to treat her daughter. She said: "It's heartbreaking as a mum to know that her life could have been saved." She described Bethan, a journalism student, as a 'caring and beautiful' young woman who would have made a 'brilliant' journalist. Delivering a narrative conclusion, Ms Morgan said Bethan had visited hospital multiple times between January 27 and February 6 - but was sent home again and again. Who gets sepsis and what causes it? Sepsis can affect anyone. The condition occurs when the body's immune system has an overeaction to an infection. As a result, the body attacks itself. Some people are more likely to get an infection that could lead to sepsis, however. This includes babies under the age of one, people over 75 years old, people with diabetes or a weak immune system (either due to treatment, a condition or genetically), people who have recently had surgery or given birth. Any infection can lead to sepsis. But those more likely to are those of: Lungs, such as pneumonia. Kidney, bladder and other parts of the urinary system Digestive system Bloodstream Catheter sites Wounds or burns She added: "Bethan was reluctant to return [to] hospital due to her lack of confidence arising from earlier attendances. "When she collapsed at home, her mother called 999. A rapid responder was sent - but wrongly classed the case as non-urgent. Ms Morgan said: "The rapid responder identified Bethan was in need of admission to hospital and requested a back up ambulance at a non-urgent grade of P3, [but] Bethan's condition warranted an emergency response." "There was no pre-alert issued to hospital to make them aware of the seriousness of her condition." "Bethan was transferred to the UHW majors area of the department when she should [have been] admitted directly to resus." "There was an extended transfer between ambulance and hospital and a delay in recognising Bethan's critical condition once she was admitted." "This delayed the escalation of her treatment and the input of specialty doctors into her care." "Bethan sadly went into cardiac arrest and died." The coroner offered her condolences to Steve and Jane James, who sat through every day of the inquest.
Telegraph
17-06-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
NHS failed to prevent ex-England cricketer's daughter dying from sepsis
The daughter of a former England cricket star would not have died from sepsis had she received more prompt medical care, a coroner has ruled. Bethan James, 21, the daughter of former Glamorgan and England batter Steve James, died on Feburay 8, 2020 just a few hours after being admitted to hospital. A post-mortem examination found she died of sepsis and pneumonia, with complications caused by Crohn's disease. An inquest in Pontypridd heard Ms James, a journalism student at the University of South Wales, died while being treated at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff. She had suffered with gastrointestinal issues for most of her life and had been diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 2019. Following complaints of being short of breath, Ms James was given antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia in late January. Her condition continued to decline, and she was taken to Llandough hospital twice before she was admitted to UHW on the evening of February 8, the inquest was told. Patricia Morgan, area coroner for South Wales Central, said there were delays in the treatment to Ms James after she arrived at the hospital. In recording a narrative conclusion, she said the ambulance crew had failed to issue a pre-alert to the hospital of how sick she was, which would have resulted in her immediate admittance to the resuscitation area of the emergency department. 'I find that the lack of pre-alert to recess resulted in a lack of advanced knowledge of Bethan's condition and consequently no efforts made to secure a bed for her in the resus area,' she said. 'There was no clinical staff waiting for Bethan when she arrived in the way they would have had a pre-alert been issued. 'It resulted in an unwillingness of the recess lead nurse to become involved in the initial decision making, instead of directing them to the major assessment nurse in line with the admission procedure for those not deemed to meet the criteria for resus. 'It resulted in time being taken to triage back then and a further handover being provided to hospital staff in the majors area. 'It's all been a delay, which in my view, would not have been the case had the pre-alert been issued, critically resulting in a delay of approximately one hour in obtaining the lactate reading for Bethan.' The coroner said she had heard evidence from doctors working at the UHW, as well as expert witness Dr Chris Danbury, and said she was 'more persuaded' by his evidence. 'Dr Danbury expressed a strong view that the outcome would have been different for Bethan if she had been subject to a pre-alert and admitted into resus immediately,' she said. 'I am therefore more persuaded by Dr Danbury's opinion on treatment options and whether earlier treatment would have made a difference. 'I find that if earlier recognition and prompt action in response to Bethan's condition upon attendance by ambulance services had occurred, this would have resulted in a pre-alert to the emergency department. 'This would have resulted in direct admission into resus, with clinical staff waiting for her, a quicker triage process, and earlier treatment would have and ought to have commenced. 'Earlier lactate treatments would have been available, and the involvement of the specialists would have and ought to have occurred at an earlier stage. 'The cognitive bias towards resus patients would have been directed in Bethan's favour at the time of her arrival rather than once the lactate result was available. 'On balance, I find that had this direct admission to resus and prompter recognition and treatment occurred, then cardiac arrest would not have occurred when it did, which would have enabled more time for other specialities to become involved in Bethan's care. 'On balance, I find that Bethan would not have died.' Addressing her parents, the coroner said: 'It's been five years plus since Bethan passed away and I don't doubt that the pain is still as strong as it was back then. 'I'm sure the evidence in relation to Bethan's passing will have resurrected a lot of your sad memories so I just want to express my condolences on behalf of myself and the coroner's service.' A Cardiff and Vale University Health Board spokeswoman said: 'Our deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences remain with Bethan's family and loved ones at this difficult time. 'The health board will provide a comprehensive written response to the coroner's request for additional information. 'We are unable to provide further comments until the coroner has reviewed the supplementary evidence.'
Times
17-06-2025
- Health
- Times
Cricketer's daughter died of sepsis after failings by paramedics
The daughter of a former England cricketer died from sepsis and pneumonia after paramedics failed to alert doctors to her symptoms, causing her to suffer an avoidable fatal heart attack. Bethan James, whose father is the former Glamorgan and England cricketer Steve James, a cricket and rugby writer for The Times, died aged 21 on February 8, 2020, after weeks of 'dismissive' hospital visits left her reluctant and unwilling to attend University Hospital Wales (UHW) in Cardiff at the request of medics in the days before her death. An inquest into her death was told that her family called 999 on the evening of February 8 after she collapsed while going to the bathroom, but the first rapid-response paramedic to attend the family home in Cardiff failed to spot the signs of life-threatening sepsis and made only a non-urgent request for an ambulance.
BBC News
17-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Cardiff student would not have died without sepsis treatment delay
A student "would not have died" if her care and treatment had not been delayed, an inquest has James, 21, from Cardiff, died on 8 February 2020 from a combination of sepsis, pneumonia and Crohn's disease, a post-mortem examination Wales coroner Patricia Morgan told an inquest in Pontypridd there were "a number of delays" to her care which "more than minimally contributed to Bethan's death".Ms James was the daughter of former Glamorgan and England cricketer Steve James.
