AN ANDOVER man died at home after being told he had another 30 years to live following major heart surgery.

Mark Allan McFarlane died at his home in Andover June 4, 2022, after he collapsed in his hallway after complaining of chest pain days after his surgery.

An inquest into his death held at Winchester Coroner's Court on Tuesday, March 28 by coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp heard that the 50-year-old had coronary artery disease and underwent surgery at the Royal Brompton Hospital - the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK.

Ms Rhodes-Kemp told the inquest that Mr McFarlane was watching television with his partner Craig Bartlett when the chest pains started. Mr Bartlett immediately called 999 and began giving him CPR but when the ambulance crews arrived Mr McFarlane had already died.

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The inquest heard that on the day of his death, Mr McFarlane spent most of the day reading and even went on a dog walk. On the same day, Mr McFarlane and Mr Bartlett had discussed moving to Devon and planned a local holiday.

Mr Bartlett said: "Suddenly he sat upright holding his chest and said he was in pain. I started dialling 999 and Mark then moved down to the arm of the chair."

He continued: "Mark said he was going to get a drink of water but when he got up he immediately collapsed on the floor."

Mr Bartlett said the call to 999 was not "was not picked up urgently" and he "threw his phone on the floor in frustration" rushing out the door to ask neighbours for help.

Craig added: "Mark should not have died, he should not have died in the way he did. The 999 call should have been listened to

“I want to know why they were so incompetent on that call.”

A spokesperson for South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said: "South Central Ambulance Service is very sorry to hear that concerns have been raised by Mr McFarlane’s family regarding our involvement in his care. We would like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere condolences to them.

"From a review of our records, we can confirm that we received two calls for Mr McFarlane on 4 June 2022. The first call was received at 22:19 and appropriately reached a Category 2 ambulance response which has a maximum response timeframe of 40 minutes on 90 per cent of occasions. An ambulance was dispatched to attend to Mr McFarlane 17 minutes later at 22:36.

"A second call was received at 22:37 and was disconnected after 38 seconds before a call taker became available to answer the call. An outgoing call was made to the caller’s phone number two minutes later and support was provided to the caller before the caller ended the call. An ambulance resource arrived at Mr McFarlane’s home address 31 minutes after receipt of the first 999 call at 22:50.

"In total three ambulance resources were sent to attend to Mr McFarlane which included a resource from the helicopter emergency medical services. Full advanced life support was undertaken in line with clinical guidelines but very sadly these were unsuccessful.

"We would be happy to discuss the concerns that have been raised with Mr McFarlane’s family directly. Should they wish to do so they can contact our Patient Experience Team."

The inquest heard that a surgeon had said Mr McFarlane was a "fit young buck" and had 30 years left in him before the operation took place.

Prior to his operation, Mr McFarlane was first admitted to Winchester hospital before being transferred to Basingstoke but Mr Bartlett said "this is where I felt the level of the care was not up to standards."

Mr Bartlett said: "I really felt that the care under the NHS was shockingly bad and had a serious lake of urgency."

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After being told he would have to wait for the procedure he needed, Mr McFarlane turned to private medical care and had the operation on Monday, May 23, which the family were told was a success.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Hospital Foundation Trust said: “Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was not considered an interested party by the coroner and as such we are unable to comment on the content of the hearing.

"We would like to offer our deepest condolences to Mr McFarlane’s family and we would invite them to contact us with any feedback on the care we provided.”

Despite this, due to complications, Mr McFarlane died after becoming short of breath in the days after.

Summing up Ms Rhodes-Kemp said: "He should have recovered from this and he should have been alright and for whatever reason, this did not work out that way."

She said the death was not an accident and the best way to conclude was a rare complication following the surgery.