Nottinghamshire family have 'no clear answers' over son's death

Tommy's parents say he was "really bubbly and smiley"

An NHS trust has "unreservedly" apologised to the parents of a baby who died aged 10 weeks.

Tommy Gillman, from Coddington, Nottinghamshire, died of sepsis in December 2022 after developing salmonella Brandenburg meningitis.

Tamzin Myers and Charlie Gillman took their son to King's Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield but say they "were not listened to".

They said they had not had "clear answers" about their son's death.

Ms Myers said on the day before his death, 7 December, she and Mr Gillman woke up to Tommy "screaming intensely and refusing his bottle, which was not like him".

Tamzin Myers and Charlie Gillman say they are "angry" they will not get the answers that they want about their son's death

They took him to A&E at 12:35 GMT, explaining to staff that Tommy had had meningitis twice before, Ms Myers added.

She said: "They didn't triage him until almost an hour later. Even when he got triaged, he got triaged incorrectly."

Mr Gillman described the experience as "frustrating", adding: "They knew about Tommy's past."

Tommy was transferred to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Leicester Royal Infirmary, where he died the next day.

Ms Myers said: "We know from the sepsis sheet they provided us that antibiotics should have been given within an hour of sepsis being identified.

"The excuse we kind of got was that loads of kids come in with symptoms of sepsis, and usually it's not, so how many more kids are going to have to go through this in order for something to be changed?"

Charlie Gillman said his 10 weeks with Tommy were the best of his life

According to a Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust investigation report into Tommy's death, seen by the BBC, there is no specific national guidance for treating salmonella meningitis in babies.

Ms Myers added: "We haven't got any clear answers as to whether it would've made a difference if they saw him earlier.

"It's a shock they can't identify a really unwell baby and we don't want this to happen to anybody else."

An inquest into Tommy's death concluded on Friday, with a prevention of future deaths report due to be sent to the trust.

'Well below the standards'

Mr Gillman said that, due to the inquest, the family had not had time to "properly grieve".

He added: "It was definitely hard to hear the facts of what should've been done, what could've been done."

A statement from the trust's medical director, Dr David Selwyn, offered "an unreserved apology" and "deepest condolences" to Tommy's family.

He said: "As a trust, we are committed to providing outstanding care to all our patients and the issues identified in this case fall well below the standards that local people should rightfully expect from their local hospitals.

"We have welcomed the thorough review of this case as a vital opportunity to identify those areas where we must learn and improve to ensure we can provide the best possible care in future."

Mr Gillman is running the London Marathon next month in memory of Tommy to raise money for meningitis research, and has so far raised £2,500.