’Brilliant’ doctor and dad-of-two dies after falling ill with condition he was an expert in
A UK doctor died after becoming unwell with a condition he was an expert in.
Professor Amit Patel sadly passed away in October 2021, after he began experiencing symptoms of hemophagocytic lymph histiocytosis (HLH).
HLH is a rare and life-threatening immune disorder where the body reacts inappropriately to a ‘trigger’, usually an infection or cancer.
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As reported by the Manchester Evening News, Professor Patel was admitted to Wythenshawe Hospital in Greater Manchester, where his condition was being investigated.
At an inquest on Thursday (4 April), the court heard from Professor Patel's widow, Dr Shivani Tanna, who claimed that one doctor treating her husband 'had never heard of HLH' and would 'read about it'.
She also said that other staff told Professor Patel that he was the least unwell person on the ward and did not qualify from treatment in intensive care - despite his warning that he was suffering from a life-threatening illness.
Speaking at the inquest, Dr Tanna said her husband had told her, "I'm going to die here."
She added: "He kept himself alive on the wards because he was a doctor – he would have been dead [within a week of him being admitted to hospital] not because he should have died, but because of sheer negligence."
Dr Tanna continued to tell the court how her husband had been denied access to his blood results, and how she was asked by nurses to do his 'basic observations' due to insufficient staff numbers.
At one point, Professor Patel had an endobronchial ultrasound guided biopsy, which was conducted at his bedside.
This is where doctors look inside the lungs using specialist equipment. Dr Tanna says her husband was not lucid enough to consent to this and questioned why it was not carried out under general anaesthetic in an operating theatre, which is what Professor Patel had requested.
Later that day, his lungs filled with blood following a perforation believed to have happened in the procedure.
“He looked liked a corpse, 70 per cent of his blood was in his lungs, he was freezing cold and he looked like he was dead," she said.
"I told my daughters, ‘daddy is dead’ – I didn’t have much hope he would be able to come out of that.”
While Professor Patel underwent emergency treatment and was transferred to Manchester Royal Infirmary, his condition deteriorated and he passed away in October 2021.
“He was exceptionally brilliant as a doctor but an amazing human being and a wonderful teacher – sadly he was having to teach during his illness at Wythenshawe Hospital when he was very unwell," said Dr Tanna.
“He was a brilliant dad, he always thought of me and the girls before his own needs, particularly while he stayed within MFT (Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust) and didn’t allow me to transfer him so we didn’t have to travel to see him or disrupt the school run as the girls were starting back at school."
Professor Patel was the first person in the country to be qualified in stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy.
It is understood that he was also one of the country’s best consultant haematologists and was a nationally recognised expert in the condition he sadly died from.
Paul Spencer, the legal representative of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), said the trust disputes the claims.
LADbible has reached out to the trust for comment.
Lucy Devine