Luton hospital failed to spot fatal sepsis in child suffering from chicken pox

A young girl died two days after hospital staff failed to notice she was suffering from sepsis, an inquest heard today (wed).

Goda Janulevicuite, six, was taken to hospital after suffering from a high fever, back pain, a bad rash and abdominal tenderness.

She was diagnosed with chicken pox and given paracetamol by doctors who sent her home.

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But when her condition deteriorated just hours later, her parents took her back to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital.

She died on the way to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London where medics tried to transfer her to for emergency care.

The inquest into her death heard how a serious case review found that the hospital had failed to detect the complications which later lead to sepsis.

The report also found that Goda’s sepsis symptoms were not spotted by the hospital when she was admitted and she was treated for chicken pox.

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A coroner at Bedfordshire Coroners’ Court in Ampthill, heard today (weds) how a GP visited Goda at her home in Luton, on April 4, 2016, after receiving a call from her father to say that she was unwell and unable to walk to the surgery.

Dr Tahir Mehmood, said: “Her father phoned me and said that she was unwell and has chicken pox for the last three days and asked me to come and see her at home.

“She was unable to walk to the surgery and she had no history of trauma so I thought that I should go and see her.

Dr Mehmood told the inquest that during his visit, he found that Goda’s parents had painted her with a Lithuanian green antiseptic lotion to treat a rash.

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He added: “She was striking green. It was unusual for me and I had never seen something like that before and she was painted from head to toe.

“The paint was used as an antiseptic lotion, her father told me.

“I could not read what it was for because the bottle was in Lithuanian.”

During his examination at her home, he said that he was concerned that she had back pain but there were no signs of more serious illnesses than chicken pox.

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Dr Mehmood concluded that despite Goda being unwell, there were no signs at that stage of serious illness.

However, the youngster’s condition worsened and her parents made the decision to take her to hospital.

She died two days later on April 6, 2016.

Dr Mehmood described his shock at hearing of Goda’s death.

He said: “I was shocked to hear that died because when I saw her she was a child that was cheerful, happy and although she had a temperature of 37.5 degrees, she was quite well.

The inquest, which is listed for five days, continues.