A GRIEVING widow has slammed a hospital after her husband, 48, died due to being given the wrong medication for four years.
Daniel Noakes was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease only after the prescription error went unnoticed until nine months before his death.
He sadly died in hospital in February 2024 after contracting pneumonia.
The 48-year-old had been treated by respiratory consultant Dr Veronica Varney at the St Helier Hospital, in Sutton.
The Epson and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust has now admitted Daniel could have lived for longer if he had not been given the wrong medication.
He was given Roflumilast, which was licenced for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but not interstitial lung disease.
The care of around 200 other patients is also now being investigated, as reported by The Telegraph.
Daniel’s wife, Laura Noakes, told the publication: “The thing that angers me the most is that we thought we were getting this high-level care and then you hear about all of these massive failings.
“I’m an intelligent person, but I’m a layperson and I didn’t understand lungs.
“We trusted the NHS and we trusted this consultant.”
Daniel had been the picture of good health and never smoked before but developed a persistent cough while on a running programme.
He was admitted to the St Helier’s respiratory department in September 2018.
Daniel joined a cough clinic led by several specialists, including Dr Varney.
The patient was ultimately diagnosed with interstitial lung disease before his death.
But the trust admitted the drug he had been taking since January 2020 was not licensed for disease.
The trust also acknowledged test results and a CT scan performed in January 2019 should have led to more tests, with “insufficient evidence” for asthma being Daniel’s sole diagnosis.
And, the evidence of interstitial lung disease was not “assessed and managed”.
Laura recalled being “shell shocked” when Daniel informed her of his diagnosis.
The couple pushed for a lung transplant, but his condition was already too far gone.
“When concerns were raised over the care he had received, it was like a double trauma – knowing you’re going to lose your husband, and in a way that was so avoidable and that saw him suffer so much,” said Laura.
An external review by the Royal College of Physicians is now investigating more than 200 patients, including 30 previously under the care of Dr Varney.
Dr Varney told The Telegraph she left the trust in 2023 and discovered Daniel had died when it was reported on the news.
She said: “He was doing well on the medication he was on, then went downhill when they changed his medication after I left.
“I feel so sorry that he died. He was a lovely man. The family were lovely.”
The trust told Laura it acknowledges Dr Varney “did not always keep up with evolving best practice”.
Dr Varney was banned from all clinical activity in January 2023 while the investigation took place.
She left later the same year and it is believed she is not working for any other trust now.
A letter from the trust confirmed the drugs Daniel was prescribed could only have been signed off by a consultant.
A review also found there was a culture at the St Helier Hospital which made junior doctors feel they couldn’t challenge those senior to them.
Dr Richard Jennings, group chief medical officer for St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group, said: “We are extremely sorry that Mr Noakes received care that fell far below what should have been expected, when a doctor, who no longer works for the trust, did not correctly care for their patients.
“We can’t put this right for the late Mr Noakes or his family, but we have taken action to make sure this cannot happen again – including strengthening our safeguards and requesting an independent review by a panel of experts, which we will publish in full.”
Laura is now seeking help from clinical negligence specialists Slater and Gordon, the law firm.
Nadia Saber, a senior associate at the company, said: “Daniel’s death was avoidable and premature, and Laura understandably has so many questions around what happened and why.
“The fact there are so many other cases also being investigated by this trust gives cause for great concern, and we would urge anyone who is worried about the care they received to come forward.”
A GMC spokesman said: “Dr Veronica Varney is currently registered with a licence to practise but with interim conditions on her registration pending the conclusion of a GMC investigation.”
