Girl died after sepsis guidelines ignored

A five-year-old girl who died due to sepsis complications could have been saved if clinical guidelines had been followed, an inquest heard.

Ava Macfarlane died of toxic shock caused by a bacterial infection on 15 December 2017. She had presented with symptoms when she first went to hospital two days earlier but they were not picked up. Nottingham Coroner's Court heard she was given Calpol and ibuprofen before doctors allowed her to go home.

Dr Shearn admitted Ava had been showing at least two "red flags" of sepsis and if he had followed guidelines from the National Institute for Health Care and Excellence and the Sepsis Trust, then the infection would have been picked up earlier. When asked by Assistant Coroner Laurinda Bower whether the "failure to follow the Sepsis 6 Pathway contributed to her death", he replied "it probably did".

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Source: BBC News, 2 September 2019