A MAN who died of cancer just three days after he was first seen by a doctor may have been diagnosed earlier if it hadn’t been for Covid, an inquest ruled. Oliver Philpott, 34, called his GP practice at least six times during the Covid lockdown complaining of long-term fatigue, anxiety and back pain. 3 Oliver Philpott died aged 34 Credit: Brighton Pictures 3 Oliver's doctors told him to take more vitamins Credit: Brighton Pictures 3 In a double family tragedy, his father, Anthony killed himself Credit: Brighton Pictures But due to pandemic rules restricting the number of face-to-face GP appointments he was repeatedly assessed over the phone instead.
Four months after he first reported symptoms Mr Philpott finally saw his GP at the surgery. He died three days later. A post mortem later found the 34-year-old had a large 20cm tumour wrapped around his heart and lungs.
READ MORE HEALTH NEWS ALE-MENTS The 8 ways a pint of beer can help BOOST your health – from cancer to diabetes SHOCK DIAGNOSIS I was tired all the time before being told I had cancer - I was blindsided The aggressive cancer had infiltrated his right lung and had eventually caused pulmonary emboli which led to a cardiac arrest that killed him. In a double family tragedy, his father, Anthony - wracked by guilt and grief over the death of his son - killed himself. An inquest into Oliver's death in Hastings heard a GP triage system had been introduced by the NHS during the pandemic to restrict face-to-face appointm.