Rugby player with chest pains died after doctors at South Yorkshire hospital failed to warn him of dangers of exercise

Ian Williams, aged 27, continued to train and played part of a match for Doncaster Knights after being discharged from hospital without any discussion about his diagnosis or the serious nature of his condition, the hearing was told.

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The inquest at Doncaster Coroner's Court found that continuing to exercise exacerbated a pre-exisiting heart condition.

Assistant coroner Louise Slater said she would write to the Health Secretary about ‘sub-optimal record-keeping’ at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, which saw three doctors fail to record details about Mr Williams' care when he attended in February 2018.

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The inquest heard that the prop forward experienced chest pains on February 15 and was taken to hospital.

He was seen by a junior doctor and underwent tests before being discharged with a referral to the rapid access chest pain clinic.

Ms Slater said a more senior clinician determined Mr Williams’ care plan without examining him or looking at his notes and his discharge was conducted by another senior specialist, who had not been involved in his care and did not know that he was a rugby player.

She said the ‘very poor documentation’ meant there were no notes about physical examinations, a management plan or any discussions between the clinicians and Mr Williams.

She said: “Given there's no documentation regards to the avoidance of exercise and the significance of this advice, I find that I cannot rely on any verbal recollection of the individuals involved and, therefore, on balance, given the evidence, I find that this advice was not given to Ian.”

Mr Williams went to training on February 16 and came on as a substitute for around 20 minutes of a match the following day.

On February 20, he attended training but collapsed and died in hospital a short time later.

Mr Williams' sister Helen said: “He didn't receive the advice that ultimately would have saved his life.”