NHS trust apologises for level of medical care MF DOOM received

"I apologise that the care he received was not to the standard we would expect..."

An NHS Trust has admitted that the hospital care received by MF DOOM prior to his death was "not to the standard we would expect". This follows an inquest into the rapper's death in 2020, which raised concerns about the treatment he received by Leeds' St James University Hospital.

MF DOOM - real name Dumile Daniel Thompson - died as a result of a “rare” allergic reaction to a drug prescribed to control blood pressure, reports Leeds Live. However, the inquest heard, opportunities to diagnose and treat the reaction were missed by hospital staff.

The wife of the late masked rapper, Jasmine Dumile, told Wakefield Coroner's Court that his death was caused by negligence. As well as suggesting that DOOM was given a makeshift room that didn't resemble an actual hospital room, Dumile also claimed that he wasn't being checked on regularly and had been unable to alert staff to his deteriorating condition as his bedside buzzer was out of reach. She said that DOOM had phoned phoned her “in distress” while in hospital as his reaction got worse.

Assistant coroner Janine Wolstenholme, overseeing the inquest, concluded that while a care plan had been drawn up by the hospital, it was not sufficiently detailed – in part because doctors were given “false reassurance” that things were moving in the right direction when Thompson’s condition had initially appeared to improve.

Wolstenholme explained that a review should have been triggered when Thompson indicated that his swelling was worsening. However, she also added that the rapper's deterioration had been very sudden, and it was impossible to say if any of these actions would have saved him.

Thompson’s reaction to the drug he had been prescribed was “rare”, but more common in smokers and people of African-Caribbean descent, and Thompson was both.

Following the inquest, the Chief Medical Officer at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Dr Hamish McLure, said: “I would like to offer our sincere condolences to Daniel’s family, friends and fans at this difficult time. I apologise that the care he received was not to the standard we would expect”.

“Following his sad death we undertook a serious incident investigation and the report has been shared with Daniel’s family”, he added. “As a result, we have put in place a number of actions and the wider learning from what happened is to be used as a teaching topic in a number of different clinical specialities. We also support the coroner’s recommendation for clearer national guidance and awareness in this area”.

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