The final witness to give evidence on Day 2 of David’s inquest was Dr Andrew Breen who was appointed by the court to give an expert opinion in relation to Intensive Care Medicine.

Ms Lyle did suggest that Dr Breen should not be heard, as he was unlikely to be able to finish his evidence, as the coroner had earlier indicated he would not sit beyond 4:30/5pm.

The coroner disagreed and called Dr Breen to give his evidence at 16:06. He was attending remotely.

He gave an affirmation and confirmed his name and that his current position was as Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine in Leeds Teaching Hospital.

The coroner asked him to start by giving his opinion which was as follows:

I conclude there wasn’t a Treatment Escalation Plan, and when Mr Lodge did not respond to initial management there was no discussion about whether he’d benefit from intensive care support.

Had an intensive care opinion been requested, there may have been some support that could have been offered. It may or may not have resulted in admission, but certain things could have been considered.

Had he been on an Intensive Care Unit, he would have been subject to continuous touch monitoring, with nurse to patient ratios, and his subsequent decline would probably not have resulted in a cardiac arrest because was an opportunity to respond to cardiac arrest.

I do conclude because of his severe frailty and poor physiological reserve at the time he arrived in hospital overall he was unlikely to survive to hospital discharge.

[I am sorry to say that I was unable to stay any longer to hear Dr Breen’s evidence. It’s a 6 hour journey back from Hull for me and I was concerned court would continue sitting, in an attempt to hear all the evidence, and that I would end up missing the last train home.

I hope to secure remote access to the coroner’s summing up and conclusion on 20 December, I’ll apply to the court for it, and hopefully he will cover what was said.

With thanks to all those who crowdfund, read and share my reporting].