A baby girl who died from meningitis may have been saved if doctors had tested her for the infection sooner, rather than putting her symptoms down to Covid, an inquest jury has found.
Five-month-old Esta High died at Leeds General Infirmary in November 2023, days after she was taken into the emergency department with a high temperature and vomiting.
She had tested positive for coronavirus, and so opportunities were missed when doctors stuck with a diagnosis of Covid, the inquest found.
Esta died from streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis, and her parents Lynsey Carr and Leon High told the inquest that doctors had missed vital chances to test for a bacterial infection and start vital antibiotic treatment.
Carr told the inquest, at Wakefield coroner’s court, that their concerns were ignored until it was too late.
On Tuesday, an inquest jury of five women and six men concluded: “Esta died of natural causes which was contributed to by neglect. Had Esta received required care, based on the balance of probabilities, it would have probably saved or prolonged her life.”
Carr said she and her partner had refused advice from doctors to take Esta home, as she would not stop vomiting and had a temperature of over 40C.
She said her daughter developed a rash and her arm started shaking, which she feared was a seizure. She told the jury, “we were extremely worried” and “we kept asking for help”, but “staff were rude and don’t listen to our concerns”.
Carr told the inquest that the family, from Leeds, were put into a side room at the hospital’s children’s assessment and treatment (CAT) unit, adding that she believed staff were more concerned with isolating Esta due to the Covid risk than listening to her parents.
She described Esta’s time on the CAT unit as “15 hours that were filled with missed opportunities”.
By late afternoon on 2 November, Esta was unresponsive, and the jury heard how scans and other tests showed evidence of meningoencephalitis and streptococcus pneumoniae.
She was taken to intensive care and attempts were made to save her life, but she died on 6 November.
“Unfortunately, as our daughter had been left untreated for 55 hours, it was too late to save our darling girl,” Carr told the inquest, describing her daughter as “bright, beautiful and perfect from the first moment”.
In a statement read by her solicitor outside court on Tuesday, Carr said:“Making the decision on the advice of the intensive care staff to withdraw Esta’s life-support broke us. Esta passed away lying between me and Leon – something no parent should ever have to go through.
“We felt so blessed that Esta was our daughter, and for her to be taken away so cruelly is something we’ll never get over.”
“Parents know their children better than anyone,” she added, “and when they say something isn’t right, they need to be listened to and taken seriously.”
Solicitor Joe Haley, from Irwin Mitchell, said: “It’s now vital that lessons are learned to help improve patient safety and prevent others from going through the terrible suffering Esta’s family has endured.”
Dr Elizabeth Garthwaite, chief medical officer at Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust, said: “We are deeply sorry that we failed Esta and her family, and offer our sincere and heartfelt condolences to Lynsey and Leon following the tragic death of their daughter.”
She added: “We recognise that serious failures occurred in the care provided to Esta and that these failures had devastating consequences.
“We take the concerns raised by the coroner extremely seriously and will carefully consider the report’s findings and recommendations.
“We are committed to responding openly and fully, and to taking any further action necessary to improve patient safety.”
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