Equipment not working in weight loss surgery death, inquest hears

Levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) were not monitored during emergency treatment of a man after his weight loss surgery, an inquest has heard.

Phil Morris had part of his stomach removed at a private hospital Spire St Anthony's in 2021.

Four days after the gastrectomy surgery he began losing consciousness and was taken to its intensive care unit (ICU).

Mr Morris, from Newport, later died at the ICU.

South London Coroner's Court heard the capnography machine used to observe Mr Morris in the ICU was not installed correctly, meaning there was no monitoring of CO2.

Dr Viplaw Shukla told the inquest on Wednesday that he attended to Mr Morris at Spire hospital in Cheam.

He said that as consultant he had overall responsibility - but insisted it was a team process, particularly in a time-critical situation such as this.

When asked whether he had gone through the procedures to check the CO2 monitoring equipment was working, Dr Shukla said he didn't have time due to the "split second" decision he was making at the time.

"I didn't have a second to go through the checklist to make sure things were working," he said.

"I was relying on my team that night."

The inquest was previously told that Mr Morris, an actor, writer and university lecturer, was diagnosed with diabetes in 1995, initially thought to be type 1 but a further assessment in 2018 found that he actually had type 2.

He was also diagnosed with sleep apnoea in 2007.

Mr Morris underwent a bariatric assessment in 2018 to see if he was eligible for weight loss surgery, but was unable to have the treatment then because his diabetes was not under control.

Three years later he had the surgery privately because of delays on the NHS.

Mr Morris' wife Dana said her husband had difficulty swallowing and was short of breath in the hours after the surgery.

She said she felt his surgeon Professor Omar Khan had been dismissive about her husband's difficulties.

Prof Khan apologised, saying it wasn't his intention to dismiss the concerns.

The inquest continues.