Hinchingbrooke Hospital 'missed opportunities' to save toddler

North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust runs three hospitals including Hinchingbrooke in Huntingdon

A hospital "missed opportunities" to save the life of a toddler who died from sepsis, a coroner said.

Effie Bartlett, aged 16 months, died at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, on 1 March 2019.

An inquest heard that on 28 February she was treated at A&E for a suspected viral infection and sent home. But 20 hours later she was back in hospital.

North West Anglia NHS Trust admitted Effie's death had "identified failings in her care" by the hospital.

In its statement the trust offered its "sincere condolences to the family" for the death of Effie.

Resuscitation in ambulance

Portsmouth Coroner's Court was told Effie's parents took her to hospital when flu-like symptoms worsened and her lips turned blue.

A junior doctor provisionally recorded a temperature of 40 degrees, diagnosed a viral infection, gave her ibuprofen and Calpol then discharged her when her condition seemed to improve.

Hours later Effie became "very unwell" and was given resuscitation treatment in an ambulance but died after she reached hospital.

Recording a narrative conclusion, coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp said: "It is probable that, but for the missed opportunities for utilising the treatment for suspected sepsis at her first attendance, namely blood tests, escalation to a senior doctor and the administration of broad spectrum antibiotics, Effie would have survived."

'Short of senior consultants'

Dr Kanchan Rege, medical director at the trust, said: "Effie's death was internally reported as a serious incident and a full investigation was instigated, which identified failings in her care.

"As a result remedial action was undertaken to improve the care provided to children attending the emergency department at Hinchingbrooke Hospital."

During the inquest Dr WC Kang, employed after Effie's death as clinical lead for paediatrics at Hinchingbrooke, said new measures to ensure safety included better recording of observations with only a senior doctor allowed to discharge child patients.

Dr Kang also told the inquest Hinchingbrooke was still short of senior consultants in A&E and often relied on locums.