Dominic Philip

“an X-Ray is no longer preferred as it is not sensitive enough and a smaller obstruction might be missed; anaphylactic type reactions to iodinated contrast agents are rare accounting for 0.6% of cases with only 0.04% considered aggressive; and almost all contrast reactions that are life threatening occur within 20 minutes of intravenous injection. The current policy appears to be that a patient referred for a CT scan by the Emergency Department is to be accompanied by a doctor trained in advanced life support (ALS). In Mr [name redacted] case, he was accompanied by a Core Trainee Year 2 who had ALS training. The policy for planned/outpatient interventions was not fully explored at inquest, but there was a suggestion that there might be some possibility of testing for an allergic reaction to the contrast medium in advance of such an appointment? My concern is that if a patient has never before had contrast medium (as was the case with Mr [name redacted]) they cannot possibly know if they have an allergy to it. Making arrangements for ALS after the event seems reactionary and I wondered if any other options might be available which would flag a potential allergy before the contrast is injected.”

“Mr [name redacted] is described as healthy so I would not expect its use outside a hospital setting”

“as Lidocaine is a prescription only medication, it needs to be stored in a locked cupboard. However, Lidocaine is not a Controlled Drug which means that clinicians do not need a double signature to remove the medication from the stock and it is not subject to a count of the stock each time an ampoule is used”