Boy Who Died of Sepsis Would Have Lived if Hospital Had Family’s Phone Number

Health

A 4 year old boy who died from sepsis after being released from the hospital could have apparently survived if hospital staff had managed to contact his family with his test results.

Sheldon Farnell died the day after he was released from Sunderland Royal Hospital. His mother first took him to the hospital three days prior after he was experiencing warning signs of sepsis.

Sheldon’s condition had apparently improved so much that the doctors sent him home, despite the fact that the definitive results of his blood tests had not come back yet.

Dr. Geoffrey Lawson, the pediatrician who treated Sheldon, said his decision to discharge the boy is his “lifelong regret.”

Just minutes after Sheldon’s family left the hospital, Dr. Niresha Sirinanda, a senior pediatric trainee at the time, was told the boy’s final blood culture tests came back ‘gram positive’ for Group A streptococcus – a bacteria that can cause sepsis.

The hospital attempted to contact the family numerous times, but were unable to get through to them. Sheldon;s mother confirmed in a statement that the three phone numbers the hospital had on record were not in use.

Dr. Mark Anderson, a consultant with years of experience in pediatrics, told Coroner Derek Winter, “If they had been able to contact Sheldon’s family at that time I doubt we would be sitting having this conversation.”

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