Hospital missed sepsis risk of girl who died in Bath

Marcie Tadman had been poorly with a cough for a few weeks before she was admitted to hospital

A doctor who treated a two-year-old who died of sepsis has told an inquest staff did not realise how sick she was.

Marcie Tadman was taken to the Royal United Hospital in Bath with pneumonia on 4 December 2017, but died a day later.

Avon Coroner's Court heard there was not an "ingrained" culture for doctors to test for sepsis.

Dr Fran Hofmann said Marcie, who lived with her family in Bath, had not appeared to be in septic shock.

Marcie's father James had taken her to the hospital's emergency department on 4 December 2017 because she had a cough, high temperature and had been vomiting.

On admission to the children's ward a healthcare assistant and nurse completed a "sepsis sticker", which flagged up the condition as a possible risk, triggering further assessments.

Dr John Ward, the first doctor to examine Marcie on the ward, said he did not recall the nursing staff raising the sepsis sticker with him.

Later that afternoon he asked registrar Dr Hofmann to assess Marcie.

Dr Hofmann said she was worried about the girl's fast heart rate and low blood pressure and was considering sepsis but did not share her concerns at that point.

She told the hearing that at the 5pm handover to the evening medical team she expressed her concerns about Marcie and did not understand why she was not reviewed by other staff.

Fighting back tears, she added: "I want the family to understand... when I left the hospital, I absolutely thought she would be reviewed after that 5pm handover.

"If I thought that wasn't going to happen, I would never have left.

"I accept we didn't realise how sick she was. She didn't look like a child in crashing septic shock."

The inquest continues.