Hospital told take action after girl's Strep A death

Meha Carneiro collapsed at King’s Mill Hospital five-and-a-hours after arriving at the emergency department

A call for a hospital trust to take action has been made after a five-year-old disabled girl died from Strep A when staff failed to recognise the seriousness of her condition.

Meha Carneiro died at Sutton-in-Ashfield’s King’s Mill Hospital on 5 December 2022 after developing sepsis caused by the bacterial infection.

A coroner found neglect contributed to her death and she would have likely survived had she received better care.

The trust said it welcomed the review.

In a report published this month, Nottinghamshire assistant coroner Dr Elizabeth Didcock called on Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to take action to prevent future deaths following Meha’s death.

An inquest in March heard she arrived at the hospital two days after starting to experience fever, cough, abdominal pain, as well as diarrhoea and vomiting symptoms.

Meha, who had Down’s syndrome, was taken to hospital by her father and suffered a cardiac arrest about five-and-a-half hours after her arrival.

‘Insufficient and ineffective’

There were insufficient trained paediatric nurses on duty and there was a lack of recognition of how unwell she was upon being admitted, the report said.

It added that she was also not provided with intravenous fluids or antibiotics as she should have been.

Dr Didcock’s findings revealed: “The lack of repeated observations, the lack of review of the oral fluid challenge, the lack of senior review, leading to the lack of recognition of the seriousness of her condition, all probably made a more than minimal, negligible or trivial contribution to [Meha’s] death.

“Had intravenous fluids and antibiotics been provided in the morning, she would on balance have survived.”

Concerns about the “insufficient and ineffective” handover between medical staff have also been raised by Dr Didcock.

She said there was a “lack of documentation of key information and agreed clinical plans” between doctors and paediatric staff in the emergency department.

The trust’s director, Dr David Selwyn, has passed on his condolences and “unreserved apologies” to the family,

He said “good progress” has been made on implementing a “rapid programme” following the coroner’s review, as well as the trust’s own investigation.

The chief executive of the hospital trust has been given until 29 May to respond to the report’s findings outlining what action will be taken and when.

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