A young girl tragically died just days before her 5th birthday and an inquest concluded that neglect was a contributing factor in her death.
Skyla Whiting, 4, from Blaenavon in Pontypool, died just days before her fifth birthday in May 2018. On January 28 this year, Newport Coroners’ Court heard that there were a number of “missed opportunities” by medical staff that contributed to her death.
Skyla died from sepsis after doctors sent her home from the hospital claiming she was suffering from a mere virus. She was then admitted to Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny on May 12 with a fever, high temperature, and elevated heart rate.
Doctors diagnosed her with a viral infection, but she has admitted again the next day, vomiting and suffering from a large rash.
It was not considered that she may have sepsis by the doctor who saw her on May 13 and they decided to do a blood test at around 8:30 pm.
The inquest heard that the tests were not carried out until 10:30 pm, with the result not becoming available until an hour later. It takes 45 minutes to an hour before doctors even looked at the result.
On the morning of May 14, 2018, 4 days after Skyla had seen a GP, a senior consultant recognized that the four years old was suffering from septic shock.
Later that day, Skyla was taken to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and placed in an intensive care ward where she died on May 15, just over a week before her birthday. A medical cause of death was sepsis resulting from a lower respiratory tract infection.
The assistant coroner for Gwent Sarah Le Fevre said that there were missed opportunities to prevent the four-year-old’s death, adding that the evidence suggested earlier intervention may have led to a different outcome.
The inquest heard the findings of a report compiled by Helen Morgan and Dr. Nadeem Syed from Aneurin Bevan University Health Board which highlighted a failure among hospital doctors to realize the severity of Skyla’s condition.
Dr. Syed added that there were concerns about how the hospital had dealt with a re-attending patient, adding that Skyla’s mother had not been listened to appropriately by those in the department. The inquest also heard that low staffing levels at the hospital led to a lack of immediate senior intervention.
Ms. Le Fevre recorded a narrative conclusion, Skyla’s death from sepsis was contributed by the neglect of appropriate treatment that was not administered between approximately 11:30 pm on May 13 and 1 am on May 14, 2018, no diagnosis of sepsis was made between 1 am and 9 am on May 14, 2018.
She added that a conclusion of natural causes was not appropriate and instead found that neglect did contribute to Skyla’s death. The coroner concluded the inquest by expressing her “sincerest condolences” to Skyla’s family.
Speaking after the inquest, a spokesman for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said: “Our thoughts remain with the family of Skyla and we’re very sorry for the circumstances surrounding the care she received.”
“This matter has been fully investigated by the health board in accordance with its Serious Incident protocol. The health board has already undertaken actions to address the issues raised through our investigation, with a strong emphasis on the importance of recognizing the symptoms of deteriorating sepsis patients,” he added.
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