Sepsis death: Girl with chicken pox 'may have been saved'
- Published
Goda Janulevicuite died last April after being taken to hospital with chicken pox
A six-year-old girl who died from sepsis could have been saved if her condition was diagnosed when she first went to hospital, a report has found.
Goda Janulevicuite died after being sent home from the Luton and Dunstable Hospital with chicken pox last April.
A serious case review found the hospital had failed to detect the complications leading to sepsis.
The hospital said it was a "desperately sad case" and it had "extended [its] sympathy to Goda's family".
A spokesman said the hospital was unable to comment further on the serious case review because of an upcoming inquest into Goda's death.
The Luton and Dunstable Hospital said it had extended sympathy to Goda's family
The serious incident report said Goda's sepsis symptoms were not spotted when she was first admitted to hospital as she was treated for her chicken pox symptoms.
She was discharged, but came back the next day with septic shock and organ dysfunction.
The report said she was sent to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London but died on the journey there.
"The investigation concludes that had the sepsis been confirmed and treated on her first attendance, it is likely that her chance of survival would have been greater," the report said.
"The trust apologises unreservedly to the family of Goda for the events that occurred and for the distress and suffering this must have caused," it added.
It recommended that hospital emergency departments assessing patients suspected of having infections should be screened for the present of sepsis.
Goda's family have since returned to their native Lithuania.