System criticised after death of ‘fit and well’ 23-year-old

Urgent and emergency care services in the East Midlands are letting down people with ”serious but not immediately life-threatening” conditions, a coroner has warned after the death of a “fit and well young man”.

Adam Hussain, 23, died from complicated appendicitis at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham in May, after repeatedly asking for help for abdominal pain over the previous four days.

Mr Hussain called emergency and urgent care services five times during the days before his collapse at home on 15 May. He was sent to a walk-in-centre after his first call on 12 May then sent home, but was not seen again face to face. 

The coroner found East Midlands Ambulance Service and the Nottingham Emergency Medical Service – the system’s single urgent care triage system – had failed to recognise the need for further face-to-face assessment and necessary treatment.

She also said there was “confusion” in the system about how to manage category 3 ambulance calls, the classification for urgent but not immediately life-threatening conditions, and where triage suggests the patient can be managed at home.

Elizabeth Didcock, assistant coroner for Nottinghamshire, said: “Had Adam been seen face to face [when he sought help], it is very likely that the intra-abdominal sepsis would have been recognised and treatment provided, likely leading to him surviving what is a treatable condition in a previously fit and well young man.”

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Source: HSJ, 15 January 2026