Pensioner dies after out-of-hours GP just shouted at her through letterbox

Copyright: NDUC

Sarah Bonner, 88, was unable to open her front door after suffering breathing difficulties and pain in her stomach and shoulder.

But instead of calling for assistance, Dr Brij Joshi put a note through her letterbox asking her to call him if she needed any more help.

Coroner Terence Carney told an inquest yesterday that Mrs Bonner died of coronary complications arising out of severe heart disease. But he added: "She would have had an opportunity to survive that night's events if effective attempts had been made to get into the house."

The inquest heard Mrs Bonner, of Jarrow, South Tyneside, had been released from hospital only four days before her death in May.

When she began to suffer serious stomach and shoulder pain and difficulty breathing, she used a panic button to contact council wardens.

They contacted Northern Doctors Urgent Care - an out-of-hours GP service - but when the information about the call was passed on, Mrs Bonner's age was recorded as 38 instead of 88. Dr Joshi arrived at Mrs Bonner's bungalow 20 minutes after the call was made at 2.20am but there was no response.

He knocked on the door several times but because he thought Mrs Bonner was only 38, he assumed she could have opened the door herself and so did not think she was seriously ill.

Mrs Bonner was later found dead by her carer, more than five hours after calling for help.

Northern Doctors Urgent Care apologised yesterday and said it had introduced measures to ensure such tragedies did not happen again.