A hospital has been severely criticised and ordered to pay compensation following the death of a six-month old baby.
James Paget University Hospital in Norfolk was ordered to pay £15,000.00 to the mother of six-month old Harris James after he was mistakenly treated for pneumonia when he actually had a heart condition, and thereafter missed multiple chances to save his life.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) investigated after complaints were made by Harris’s family and found significant mistakes were made in Harris's care.
Harris was taken by ambulance to the Trust's A&E department on 12 November after he vomited and became "floppy". A chest X-ray showed his right lung had changed and part of his left lung was filled with fluid. Staff suspected that he had sepsis and possibly aspiration pneumonia, rather than by bacterial infection. Harris was transferred to a paediatric ward but his condition got worse. An electrocardiogram (ECG) showed several heart abnormalities but Harris was still not referred to a specialist and did not see a consultant until the next day. Soon after that, he suffered a cardiac arrest and died.
The Ombudsman's report concluded that the Trust had failed to act on the results of the ECG and X-ray; failed to ask for input from specialist staff and failed to escalate his care when his condition was getting worse. The report said had Harris received the appropriate treatment it was "more likely than not that his death would have been avoided".
A clinical negligence solicitor with Sydney Mitchell, said: “This is a terribly tragic case which the Ombudsman has confirmed was completely avoidable. Misdiagnosis and failure to refer for treatment are common causes of preventable deaths within the NHS, and it is vital that the Trust learns from its failings and changes its policies and procedures to ensure that something like this does not happen again.”
For help and advice on clinical negligence matters please contact a member of the Personal Injury team on 0808 166 8827.
More details on BBC News:
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