Widow's anger as inquest refused after man's death
BBCThe family of a man who died from cardiac arrest have said they are angry no inquest will be held into his death, which they claim came after he received minimal medical attention.
Father-of-two Sunil Rastogi, 39, died at Southmead Hospital in February 2025 after he went into cardiac arrest.
His wife Priya Rastogi believes there was "negligence" in his care and is considering legal action against the NHS.
Hospital chiefs said a "comprehensive review" was completed into Mr Rastogi's death and their findings were shared with his family. Avon Coroner's Court did not explain why it refused to hold a full inquest.
Deputy coroner Peter Harrowing said he could not comment on individual cases.
Breathing problems
Mr Rastogi lived with his wife Priya and their two young children in South Gloucestershire for more than three years before he died.
His widow and children faced being deported after his death because their visas were tied to Mr Rastogi's employment as a software engineer.
They have since returned to India.
Mr Rastogi's family claim he was left unmonitored despite signs of a serious heart condition.
They said they alerted staff when he began to experience breathing problems but they said their warnings "fell on deaf ears".
They claim doctors only arrived to help Mr Rastogi once an alarm was pushed but by then it was too late.
'Red flag'
On the day of his death, Mr Rastogi woke up early at home with severe discomfort in his stomach. He later experienced vomiting and heart palpitations.
Paramedics from South Western Ambulance Service carried out an electrocardiogram (ECG) and recorded an abnormal reading.
However, a report from North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT), which runs Southmead Hospital, said the ECG reading was not properly handed over to doctors.
The report said Mr Rastogi's condition "was not treated as a red flag".
It also said he was not given drugs which "could have been life-saving" and was instead given morphine, which can worsen heart conditions by lowering a person's blood pressure.
In a separate report, the ambulance service said an abdominal aortic aneurysm - a serious problem with the main artery in Mr Rastogi's abdomen - was possibly the cause of his symptoms.
This was not passed on to hospital staff as paramedics were not certain, the report said.
The ambulance service report said learnings had been identified to improve safety while the hospital's report recommended a number of improvements, including reviewing handovers between its A&E department and paramedics to avoid "missing clinical information when handing over verbally".
Dr Sam Patel, NBT's hospital medical director, said: "We would like to reiterate our condolences to Sunil's family following their loss.
"A comprehensive review was carried out following Sunil's death and this has been shared with the family."
'Hard to accept'
Mrs Rastogi said she "totally belives there was negligence" in her husband's care.
She said the family faced further stress when they received a £1,000 bill from the NHS after her husband's mother needed treatment due to collapsing in shock while visiting him in hospital.
The bill was issued because Mr Rastogi's mother was a visiting foreign national with no right to access free NHS care.
"This is hard to accept, even after such a tragedy," Mrs Rastogi said.
"We were additionally financially burdened including being charged for my mother-in-law's treatment.
"As a mother of young children I am struggling every day emotionally and financially."
Dr Patel: "In line with all NHS trusts, we are required by law to reclaim costs for hospital care from patients who are not eligible for NHS funding."
Medical negligence specialist from Enable Law Jackie Linehan is representing the family.
"SWAST and Southmead Hospital all failed to diagnose aortic dissection," she said.
"Opportunities to treat him and prevent his death were also missed."
Linehan added: "Because the coroner has not done a full investigation, opportunities to share that learning with other hospitals have been missed as well."
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