Tearful doctor apologises to parents of toddler who died of sepsis after she failed to screen for killer infection

A BABY girl died of sepsis after a doctor failed to detect the killer infection, an inquest has heard.

Little Marcie Tadman was taken to hospital by her dad James, 40, after he noticed she was suffering from rattling, "raspy" breathing.

Medics reassured the family, diagnosing the two-year-old with a chest infection and prescribing her antibiotics.

But 24 hours later the toddler died, of Group A streptococcal infections, sepsis and pneumonia.

Wiping away tears doctor apologised to Marcie's family

A doctor who examined Marcie after she was admitted to Bath's Royal United Hospital told an inquest she did not screen the toddler for sepsis.

Dr Claire Verey who worked in the emergency department, said she did not use a sepsis screening tool.

"I examined her chest, and found that there was lots of transmitted upper airway noises. The top of her chest was very noisy to listen to.

"There was no wheezing, no rattling noises. She seemed quite settled.

"Her fever had also come down from 39 to 37.5, and she was eating and drinking a little bit.

"I made the decision that Marcie was suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection.

''I remember weighing Marcie and advising on paracetamol and ibuprofen doses based on her weight.''

Dr Jacobs admitted that she had not recorded Marcie's respiratory rate, and added: "I'm very regretful that I did not make my documentation clearer.

"This is something I have since hugely reflected on."

Marcie's condition deteriorated

But James said her condition worsened over the weekend.

He said that, on December 4, Marcie "continued coughing regularly throughout the day and night".

"When she stopped coughing at about 3am I got up to check on her. Marcie was awake and listless.

''She seemed lethargic, and hadn't jumped up to be picked up like she usually would," said James.

"I gathered her up and took her to A&E at Royal United Hospital."

'They told me not to worry'

Marcie's father James claimed that, when he rushed his young daughter to Royal United Hospital staff there "did not seem very urgent".

In a statement James said: "Doctors and nurses kept coming in and out throughout the day, and they all said there was nothing to worry about.

"They said we'd be back home in two days. They told me not to worry."

James said that, once at the hospital, he was told that Marcie had a "simple" chest infection, which could be easily treated in 24-48 hours with a course of antibiotics.

But he said: "A bit of time went by, and I wondered why the antibiotics were not given straight away, as I felt her condition was not getting any better, and that was what she needed.

"The first staff member we came across there was a male, and he did not seem very urgent.

"As I was explaining to him what had happened, Marcie was sick on me.

"I was told she would be admitted and stay overnight.

''I asked again where the antibiotics were, and was told, 'You are being transferred to the children's ward, they will be administered there'."

Toddler suffered cardiac arrest in early hours

But James said the antibiotics had still not been given - six hours after they arrived at the hospital And James said that the last hour and a half of Marcie's life was "most definitely the worst time of my life so far".

He said that he and Marcie had fallen asleep late in the evening on December 4 - but he was awoken around 2am by a heart monitor alarm going off beside Marcie's bed.

He said: "Marcie had been sick again and pulled her oxygen mask away and pulled the IV line out of her arm.

"I was a bit annoyed as the nurses told me they would keep an eye on her. Then I remember the consultant, Mr Webb, coming in and saying, "Why is this child still here and not in ICU?".

"I panicked a bit and asked "Why the hell should she be in ICU?"

"As they started to move her, Marcie looked at me, looked straight into my eyes, and took one big breath.

"Then she seemed to turn off as she exhaled and went limp."

James said that staff began attempt to resuscitate Marcie, which he said went on for "so long".

But at 5.59am, Mr Webb told him they were going to stop - and Marcie was pronounced dead.

James added: "I just couldn't get my head around how this happened when all day we were told she was going to be fine. I was in shock."

Only eight hours earlier, James had said to his sister, Rachael Le Huray, "don't worry Rach, she'll be fine".

Dr Verey said to Marcie's family at her inquest: "There's definitely lessons been learnt.

"Paediatric sepsis is a difficult area, but it's getting far better trained.

"You have to be more cautious with everything you do with a child, which is why making a diagnosis of sepsis can be so much more difficult.

"At the time I examined Marcie, the onus was more on finding an infection.
"But now, the onus is much more along the line of, "Does this child have sepsis?", Dr Verey said.

The inquest continues.

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