Girl aged 6 dies after doctors miss telltale signs of killer sepsis

DOCTORS and nurses repeatedly failed to diagnose a type of sepsis which killed a six-yearold girl, a damning report has found.

A tell-tale rash was dismissed as bruising, while other symptoms such as a temperature and rapid pulse were ignored.

Layla-Rose Ermenekli’s condition was finally taken seriously more than four hours after she was taken to hospital – when she was about to be sent home on February 3.

She was moved to the paediatric unit where the correct treatment was eventually given – nearly six hours after her arrival – but she died twoand-a-half hours later following cardiac arrest. An internal investigation into the schoolgirl’s Tragedy: Layla-Rose, six death from meningococcal septicaemia has highlighted ‘missed opportunities to identify the severity’ of her illness. Layla-Rose was taken to Royal Oldham Hospital by her parents with a high temperature, headache and stomach ache. An internal report into Layla-Rose’s death – carried out by Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust – found a nurse used an old document to assess her, which failed to mention sepsis risk. Investigators also said medical staff ignored concerns from LaylaRose’s mother Kirsty. The report has not been published but was made available by beautician Mrs Ermenekli and her packing worker husband Ramazan, both 32, of Oldham, Greater Manchester. It said: ‘ The doctor who saw the patient initially did not recognise the rash; as a result the diagnosis of sepsis was missed.’

Additional training was recommended for doctors, while staff have been told to consider sepsis when diagnosing unwell children in future.

In a statement, the couple, who have three other children, said: ‘Layla-Rose was a muchloved, bright, beautiful daughter and sister... the family hopes that the tragic events giving rise to Layla-Rose’s death will bring about patient safety at Royal Oldham.’

Dr Jawad Husain, medical director at the hospital, said: ‘We have carried out a thorough investigation into the care and circumstances surrounding Layla’s death.’

The Daily Mail is campaigning for better awareness of sepsis, which kills 44,000 people in Britain each year.