A father-of-three was left waiting for an hour without being seen by staff at Stafford Hospital before collapsing in front of his distraught wife and later dying, an inquest heard.

Francis Thompson, 67, was rushed to hospital after doctors were alarmed at the results of a blood test which indicated he could be suffering from deep vein thrombosis.

But despite their concern he was not seen until he collapsed, an inquest sitting at Stafford Crown Court heard.

The property developer’s wife Janet told the hearing he was blue in the face and struggling to breathe but her pleas with receptionists for urgent medical attention were ignored.

“They were not interested at all,” Mrs Thompson, of The Green, Milford, told the jury. “No-one assessed him at all when we arrived.

“From the moment Frank arrived at the hospital his physical condition worsened and he was struggling to breathe. He was very unwell and this panicked him.

“I was told at one point there was nowhere to put Frank – we’d been waiting for one hour by then.”

Minutes later he collapsed in the accident and emergency waiting area and his wife was forced to put him in the recovery position in the absence of any medical staff, the court heard.

Finally two nurses put him in a wheelchair and on to a trolley, Mrs Thompson said. Although doctors tried to revive him, Mr Thompson was confirmed dead that evening, January 7, 2008.

The court heard Mr Thompson, who had a history of deep vein thrombosis, had been feeling unwell since returning from a Caribbean holiday nine days before his death.

He went to his GP, Dr Jason Davies of Mill Bank Surgery in Stafford, who took a blood sample. Dr Davies advised him to deliver the sample to doctors at Stafford Hospital.

Worried by the results, they called him in for an examination that evening.

Dr Davies told the inquest  he had ordered the blood test as a precaution.
The inquest continues.