Mr Knox was later diagnosed with moderate lung disease, and believed previous scans and tests were inconsistent with asthma and that a CT scan carried out in January 2019 should have prompted further tests.
The trust admitted that if more “higher medical information” had been available over the years Mr Noakes had been treated, several important issues would have been identified, including evidence of interstitial lung disease which had not been “assessed and managed” and that there was “insufficient evidence” to be “correct” as his sole diagnosis.
Mrs Knox, now 47, said: “He kind of told me I was in complete shock, shell shocked. I remember coming home and we were just sitting in the garden trying to process it, it was quite scary to be honest.”
She told the Telegraph that a separate trust team assessed her husband to see if he could be a candidate for a lung transplant, but by then his health had deteriorated significantly.
Around this time he began to struggle with basic tasks such as carrying shopping bags up hills without being out of breath.
He later died in hospital of pneumonia. An inquest into his death is yet to be concluded.
‘It was like a double shock’
Mrs Noakes added: “When concerns about his care were raised, it was like a double shock – knowing you were going to lose your husband, and in a way that was preventable and seeing him suffer so much.
“We could have had many more years together. It didn’t have to be this way that he and our family ended up suffering so much.
“I try not to think about it too much, and take things one day at a time – but as long as we have answers and accountability, it’s always hanging in front of us.”
The trust is awaiting the results of an external review by the Royal College of Physicians for more than 200 patients, including 30 previously under Dr Varney’s care.
After a complaint was made by Mrs Knox, the Trust apologized and sympathized with her, while admitting that Mr Knox might have lived longer if he had been treated in accordance with the guidelines.
The same letter confirmed that the drug he was given – Roflumilast, which was licensed to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but not interstitial lung disease – could only be prescribed by a consultant at the hospital.
A review by the trust also found there was a culture at St Helier’s Hospital in Stone, where Mr Noakes was treated, which “restrained junior staff from challenging doctors’ instructions”.
The trust told Mrs Noakes it accepted that Dr Varney “did not always continue to promote best practice” and added that it had made a number of changes in the wake of his death to ensure the same mistakes did not happen again.
Dr Varney was banned from all clinical activity in January 2023 while the case was investigated before leaving the trust later that year.
No findings have been concluded. He knows that no more will be employed by another trust.
Dr Richard Jennings, Group Chief Medical Officer of St George’s, Epsom and St Helier’s University Hospitals and Health Group, said: “We are very sorry that Mr Noakes received care that was far below what was expected, when a doctor, who no longer works for the trust, does not take proper care of his patients.
“We cannot put this right on the late Mr Knox or his family, but we have taken action to ensure it does not happen again – including strengthening our safeguards and requesting an independent review by a panel of experts, which we will publish in full.”
‘Cause of great concern’
Ms Knox is now a client at clinical negligence specialist Slater & Gordon, a law firm.
Nadia Saber, a senior associate at the firm, said: “Daniel’s death was preventable and premature, and Laura understandably has many questions about what happened and why.
“The fact that there are many other cases being investigated by this trust is cause for great concern, and we would like to ask anyone who is concerned about the care they have received.”
A GMC spokesman said: “Dr Veronica Varney is currently registered with a license to practice but is awaiting the conclusion of a GMC investigation into the provisional conditions of her registration.”
A spokesperson for the Royal College of Physicians confirmed that a review had been carried out but referred to the trust as the commissioner and owner of the report for any questions about the publication.
Dr Varney told The Telegraph that she left the trust in 2023 and only later found out about Mr Knox’s death from reports.
“He was doing great on the medication he was on, then went down when they changed his medication after I left,” she said.
“I’m so sad that he passed away. He was a beautiful man. His family was beautiful.”
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