The High Court has heard that a four-year-old girl whose mother’s concerns about meningitis were “repeatedly dismissed” by medical staff later died from sepsis.
Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) has apologised for failures in the care provided to the girl who died just hours after she was taken to Tallaght University Hospital.
The apology was read in the High Court as the girl’s parents settled their legal action over her death.
Lawyers for the family, who cannot by identified by order of the court, said the girl’s mother had discovered rash on her daughter on 12 February 2018.
Senior Counsel Jeremy Maher told the court the mother raised the possibility of meningitis but was repeatedly dismissed and her daughter was diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection.
Her condition deteriorated and she was transferred to another hospital for urgent assessment but attempts to treat her meningitis at that stage were unsuccessful and she died in the early hours of 13 February from meningococcal sepsis.
Mr Maher said it was the family’s case that if the protocol around sepsis and meningitis had been followed the girl would not have died.
Expert witness for the family said there were multiple amber and red flags pointing to the condition.
CHI sorry over ‘ongoing distress’
In their High Court action it was claimed there was a failure to recognise the girl’s physical and clinical indicators of sepsis or meningococcaemia and a failure to have any regard to concerns expressed by her mother that her daughter may have meningitis.
Instead she was not diagnosed on time and there was a failure to ensure proper monitoring of her condition, the court was told.
In a letter of apology read to the court by Senior Counsel Conor Halpin, CHI offered sincere apologies to the parents following the unexpected death of their daughter.
“Children’s Health Ireland would like to sincerely apologise for the failures in the care provided to her and to confirm that it is committed to learning from her death,” it added.
In the letter which was signed by Chief Executive, Lucy Nugent, CHI said it acknowledges and is profoundly sorry for “the ongoing distress that this has caused to you and your family and we extend our deepest condolences”.
The details of the settlement were not disclosed in court. Mr Justice Paul Coffey extended his deepest sympathy to the family.