CHI apologizes for care failures in death of 4-year-old girl

Children's Health Ireland (CHI) has issued a sincere apology for the failures in care provided to a four-year-old girl who died hours after presenting at Tallaght University Hospital with a rash. The apology was read in the High Court as the girl's parents settled a lawsuit concerning her death.

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Children’s Health Ireland would like to sincerely apologise for the failures in the care provided to her and to confirm that it is committed to learning from her death.

The child's mother discovered a rash on her daughter and took her to the hospital by ambulance on February 12, 2018. The mother raised the possibility of meningitis, but hospital staff diagnosed a respiratory tract infection. Despite treatment, the child's condition worsened, and she was transferred to another hospital, where she died in the early hours of February 13, 2018, from meningococcal sepsis.

The family's legal counsel argued that if protocols for sepsis and meningitis had been followed, the girl would still be alive. An expert witness was expected to testify that the child's condition showed multiple "amber and red flags" and should have been identified sooner. CHI's apology acknowledged the "ongoing distress" caused to the family and committed to learning from the tragedy.

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the ongoing distress that this has caused to you and your family and we extend our deepest condolences

In the proceedings, it was claimed that CHI failed to consider the girl's symptoms, initiate proper sepsis procedures, recognize clinical indicators of sepsis or meningococcaemia promptly, and adequately heed the mother's concerns about her child's condition, including the possibility of meningitis. The court noted the settlement and extended its deepest sympathy to the family.

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multiple amber and red flags