NHS 111: child died despite 'blue lips' call

A two-year-old with a twisted bowel died despite her mother telling NHS non-emergency services about "blue lips and breathlessness", a coroner said.

Myla Deviren's mother spoke to a series of NHS 111 and out-of-hours service advisors, but none "appreciated" her symptoms and she later died. A coroner said with earlier hospital transfer and appropriate treatment Myla probably would have survived.

The 111 provider said it had made a number of changes since Myla's death.

In a prevention of future deaths report, Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp, assistant coroner for Cambridgeshire, said after Mylabecame unwell in the early hours of 27 August 2015 her mother rang 111. During the call the health assistant "did not appreciate the significance of key symptoms", Ms Rhodes-Kemp said. 

Ms Rhodes-Kemp said that further steps in the 111 and out-of-hours services should be taken, including mandatory annual training for all call staff and having a "suitably-qualified" paediatric specialist clinician available. She added the "default position and precautionary advice should be - if in doubt call an ambulance".

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 7 November 2019