Coroner raises radiology issues after boxer death

A coroner has said he is concerned there are not enough radiologists in England following the death of a 17-year-old amateur boxer.

Christian Hobbs died from an undiagnosed heart condition at Peterborough City Hospital on Boxing Day in 2017.

At an inquest, David Heming said the urgency of his situation was "underappreciated" at hospital.

In a report, published last week, he pointed out that nothing was recorded "in the notes on assessment" of Christian's X-rays.

"I have a concern over whether there are sufficient numbers of radiologists to cover the ever-increasing expansion of imaging as a key diagnostic tool," he wrote.

He listed 19 concerns he had relating to Christian's treatment.

Mr Heming also wrote that he was concerned funding was not available to help increase awareness among healthcare staff of cardiogenic shock (CS).

CS is a life-threatening condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood and oxygen to the brain.

Christian Hobbs was a boarder at Rugby School in Warwickshire.

He trained twice a week at the Heart of England Community Boxing Club in Hinckley, Leicestershire.

He was amongst the "fittest" of men, according to his father who served for 10 years as an infantry officer in the Army.

On Christmas Day he seemed well, but the following day, his grandfather - a retired consultant surgeon - noted that he had turned "morbidly white" and was "clammy".

His grandfather could not find a radial pulse and measured a carotid pulse of 240bpm.

His parents took him to Peterborough City Hospital, arriving at 17:42 GMT, complaining of "chest tightness and vomiting".

Just after 20:00 he went into cardiac arrest and CPR was started.

At 23:45, with the family's consent, treatment stopped and he was pronounced dead.

A post-mortem examination found he had arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, a rare condition which can cause the heart's walls to become weak.

In his prevention of future deaths report, which followed the inquest that concluded in October, Mr Heming said there had been a "number of instances in our coroner investigations" where there were issues surrounding radiology within the North West Anglia Foundation Trust (NWAFT).

He also said: "The under appreciation by some staff of how critically unwell Christian was raises an issue on exchanges of information and team culture."

Mr Heming highlighted reports by the Care Quality Commission in 2018 and 2019.

"There have now been a number of independent expert reviews in coronial investigations which have highlighted sub-optimal clinical care in fact-specific scenarios," he said.

"This is a concern and it is unclear as to whether there has been a deep dive audit [or] review to look at patterns [or] trends rather than simply looking at raw overall mortality data."

He suggested there could be a lack of general awareness among parents of athletes regarding sudden cardiac death and how to spot red flag symptoms.

The NWAFT and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board (CPICB) said they would review and respond to the report.

The trust, alongside the CPICB and six national organisations, have until 2 June 2025 to provide details of action taken or proposed actions.

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