THE family of a Southend man who died after failings by paramedics are calling for justice on the anniversary of his death.

Steven Jackson, 37, died on March 5, 2014, after he went to Southend Hospital struggling to swallow and having difficulty breathing.

He was seen by an out-ofhours doctor, who prescribed him over-the-counter medication and sent him home.

Three hours later, his fiancee Shelley Jackson had to call an ambulance as his condition continued to deteriorate and his lips turned purple.

Paramedics spent an hour assessing him, before diagnosing a virus and gave Steven oxygen and a nebuliser, but decided he did not need to be taken to hospital.

Hours later, he collapsed at home and died. It emerged he was suffering from epiglottitis – an inflammation and swelling of the epiglottis behind the root of the tongue – a critical condition which is treatable with antibiotics.

Steven’s brother-in-law Simon Watkins, 50, said: “We are absolutely adamant we won’t let this lie. You see more and more of these circumstances, where clinicians have let people down and to me it seems nobody does anything about it.

“An ambulance was called and staff gave him oxygen, put him on a nebuliser and decided he didn’t need to be taken to hospital.

His fiancee Shelley listened to what they said. You expect them to be right.”

Steven died four months before he was due to marry Shelley in Hawaii and was looking forward to becoming a stepdad to her two teenage children.

The family plan to take legal action against the ambulance service which has since apologised.

Paying tribute to his brotherin- law, Mr Watkins said: “He was young, very fit and fun-loving. In every photograph we have of him, he was smiling.

“We had 400 people come to his funeral. He knew so many people and a huge number of people have been affected by his death.

“Seven years ago, he was travelling in Australia. He fell down a sand dune and broke his neck in six places and was paralysed.

“He recovered from that because there were people there helping him, but a year ago today nobody helped him.

“The entire family have been left completely devastated by losing Steve and the manner in which it happened has made it particularly unbearable.

“The family know, that had he received appropriate treatment, he would be alive and with us today.”

Echo:

Ambulance trust apologised and has changed procedure

EAST of England Ambulance Service carried out a full investigation after Mr Jackson’s death.

The trust apologised in a letter to the family and accepted the paramedics should have identified the condition and taken him to hospital.

Mr Jackson’s brother-in-law Simon Watkins said: “The past year has been difficult. While we know nothing will bring Steve back, we simply will not allow this matter to rest.

“The family are determined those responsible for his death are held accountable and this is not allowed to happen again.”

The ambulance service has made a number of changes in the wake of the death, including a checklist for staff to complete, to ensure it is suitable for a patient to be left at home, and making staff more aware of acute epiglottitis.

One-to-one training for the paramedic involved has also taken place. 

Anthony Marsh, the ambulance service’s chief executive, said: “I would like to apologise again for the events involving the ambulance service and for the care we provided to Steven.

“He should have been taken to hospital for further assessment and treatment and as a result of our investigation we have put in place a number of actions to help improve the service.”

Denise Townsend, associate director of nursing and governance at Southend Hospital, said: “The Trust would like to express its sincere condolences to Steven Jackson’s family for their loss. Mr Jackson was referred to the out of hours GP service and seen by a doctor there.”