The string of blunders that led to 6-year-old’s sepsis death
A GIRL of six died of sepsis after medical staff missed several chances to save her life, a damning report has found.
Coco Bradford was taken to Royal Cornwall Hospital suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea but was quickly sent home by doctors, who told her parents she was ‘fine’.
In fact, she was severely dehydrated and suffering clinical shock. A simple course of intravenous fluids could have saved her life, the report said.
Coco, who was autistic, returned to hospital the following day – July 26 last year – and was admitted to a paediatric ward.
But her dehydration was still not properly treated. Her condition rapidly worsened over the next four days as a lethal sepsis infection began to ravage her body.
There was a crucial delay in treating the sepsis with life-saving antibiotics and Coco died on July 31 after being transferred to Bristol Children’s Hospital.
An independent report, published on Friday, found there were numerous missed opportunities that would have ‘significantly increased Coco’s chances of survival’. It said inadequate staffing levels and a failure to administer proper treatments at the right time were among factors that effectively condemned Coco to death.
Coco’s mother Rachel, from St Ives, Cornwall, said the failures were ‘extremely distressing’.
Mrs Bradford added: ‘I am appalled by the level and magnitude of failings. Our beautiful, little girl did not stand a chance. She was happy and healthy and absolutely loving life. She really loved learning, she loved the beach, swimming, eating chocolate and listening to music. She was at a mainstream school.
‘I cannot and will not ever forgive those individuals we hold responsible for Coco’s death. They know who they are and they should be utterly ashamed of themselves.’
She told how ‘arrogant’ staff treated her and her husband Luke with contempt, and even tried to cover up their failings by branding Coco ‘ uncooperative and non-compliant’.
Mrs Bradford said: ‘I would expect that rather than just learning from Coco’s death, certain members of staff will be held accountable for it. It is very hard to live with, especially when you know all that Coco needed was rehydration, a simple course of intravenous fluids. That’s it, no miracle drug, no specialist treatment. The failure of treating the initial infection led to Coco contracting sepsis.
‘I will be forever thankful that I told Coco I loved her at least ten times every single day and that the last words I ever heard Coco say were: “I love you”.’
Kate Shields, the chief executive of Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, said: ‘We have fully accepted the report’s findings and will report our progress against every one of its recommendations publicly.
‘We accept and acknowledge the fact that for Coco and her family we were not good enough. We apologise unreservedly.’
The Daily Mail’s End The Sepsis Scandal campaign has called for major improvements in how the NHS deals with the illness.
It was triggered by the death of 12-month-old William Mead. A report found inexperienced call handlers at the NHS 111 helpline had failed to realise William needed urgent help.
The illness is treatable with antibiotics and fluids, but these must be given very early to prevent serious complications.
Sepsis is the leading cause of avoidable deaths in Britain, killing at least 44,000 people a year.