Autistic boy, 4, died after hospital doctors couldn't see GP notes, coroner warns

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By Claudia Tanner

A coroner has issued an urgent warning that lives are at risk because hospital doctors cannot access patients' GP records electronically, following an inquest into the death of a four-year-old boy with autism.

Akhona Moyo died from complications from a brain tumour at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

Hassan Shah, assistant coroner for Northamptonshire, found the child’s death could have been prevented if he had received "earlier intervention”.

Hospital doctors, including those in A&E and paediatrics, have no electronic access to primary care medical notes such as GP records or community mental health notes, a prevention of future deaths report highlighted.

The doctors that gave evidence to the inquest stated that “access to primary care records would undoubtedly assist them in delivering better patient treatment and care”.

It was said that medics were “working in silos” and that access to such information is particularly important in cases when a patient is autistic and non-verbal.