'Expertise to save Tom's life was just a phone call away'

NEW MUM'S GRIEF AS CORONER SAYS PARTNER'S DEATH ON DAY SHE GAVE BIRTH COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED

- HELENA VESTY

THE life of a young dad-to-be could have been saved if doctors had not missed a serious heart condition.

A coroner said yesterday that it was "not the first time in recent years" that he had heard an inquest where a young patient had died after discharge from Wythenshawe Hospital "where these broader issues have arisen".

Exactly one year ago today, Rebecca Moss tried to wake her 40-year-old partner Tom Gibson by saying 'wake up, it's baby day' in the hours before she was due to go into hospital to give birth.

But she found Tom unresponsive on their sofa, "cold and stiff".

Tom had suffered sudden cardiac death. Less than two weeks earlier, he had been to Wythenshawe A&E with a stomach bug. Two ECG tests were made but doctors missed what later became apparent that they showed a 'complete heart block, which can lead to sudden death.

But the tests were misinterpreted and Tom was sent home.