A doctor dismissed a ten-month old baby’s symptoms as a stomach bug just hours before she died of septicaemia caused by meningitis, an inquest heard.
Lily Teale was rushed to a doctor’s surgery after suffering a high fever, bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea on November 22, 2017.
A GP diagnosed her with gastroenteritis – a common stomach infection – and advised her mother Rebakah Watson to continue administering Calpol, the Doncaster inquest heard.
But just hours later, Lily was rushed to hospital after her lips turned blue and she became unresponsive. She tragically died at Doncaster Royal Infirmary that night.
Post-mortem examinations revealed she had meningococcal meningitis W which caused septicaemia, her official cause of death.
Ms Watson has since called for the age at which the MenACWY vaccine – which protects against the type of meningitis Lily had – is given to be lowered to prevent similar deaths.
Lily Teale was rushed to a doctor’s surgery after suffering a high fever, bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea on November 22, 2017
A GP diagnosed the her with gastroenteritis – a common stomach infection – and advised her mother Rebakah Watson (pictured with her daughter) to continue administering Calpol
An inquest into her death today heard Lily had suffered from tonsillitis a month before her death but had generally been fit and well.
Ms Watson told Doncaster Civic Chamber that on November 21, after seeming ‘completely fine’ all day, Lily woke up screaming and she recorded a temperature of around 39.4.
Ms Watson said: ‘I first became aware something was wrong in the early hours of the morning, she woke me up screaming.’
Asked by the coroner if this was unusual for Lily, Ms Watson said yes.
She added: ‘She felt boiling hot. She vomited in the spare bedroom after I got her out of the cot.
‘I rang 111 and explained what happened and how high her temperature was. They advised she needed to be seen within 12 hours by a GP.
‘Lily was shaking, her body was vibrating. I had not seen her like that before.
‘It was like she was hot but freezing, like when you’re cold and you’re shaking, but she was red hot. I could see her shaking, her lip was trembling.
‘I was trying to keep her awake and she was falling asleep.’
Ms Watson told the inquest she did not see any lumps, bumps or rashes on Lily’s body at this point and was advised to make a GP appointment the next day.
She told the coroner that she couldn’t get an appointment with her GP so instead rang a same-day health centre in Doncaster and managed to get Lily seen by a doctor there.
The doctor diagnosed her with gastroenteritis and advised Ms Watson to continue giving Calpol to her daughter.
Ms Watson added: ‘She was very, very clingy. She was attached to me.
‘As soon as she woke up, she was screaming, I had to have her with me at all times.
‘She was warm but her temperature had come down a bit.
‘I was told by the GPs there were no appointments and I should ring the same-day health centre.
‘I got off the phone and got in the car and pretty much got there straight away.
‘Lily started vomiting while we were in the waiting area. She was hot, but she was spaced out.’
Ms Watson said she explained Lily’s symptoms to the doctor and said the girl ‘wasn’t herself’.
She told the inquest: ‘He took her temperature and listened to her chest. I told him she’d had tonsillitis and asked him to check her throat. I wasn’t in very long.
‘I thought the tonsillitis had come back. I explained her dad had been poorly and that me and her sister had been poorly.
‘I was told she had gastroenteritis and told to give her Calpol but not Ibropofen.’
Ms Watson told coroner Louise Slater she was not given any more advice on what changes to Lily to look out for.
She said later that day, Lily fell asleep on the sofa and her lips turned blue.
It was only then that Ms Watson noticed a rash on Lily’s body under her nappy when she went to change her.
She added: ‘It was just under the top of her nappy. I could see it growing.’
The inquest heard Dr Ben Saward – the GP who assessed Lily – had not recorded a respiratory rate test in his notes of the consultation.
He told the coroner he came to the conclusion that Lily had most likely had gastroenteritis as her temperature and heart rate were ‘in the normal zone’.
He said: ‘My personal opinion was she had gastroenteritis and my advice was to drink fluids and monitor the number of wet nappies Lily produced to keep an eye on her hydration levels.’
Sufiyan Rana, representing the family, asked Dr Saward if he had checked under Lily’s nappy for a rash.
He said there was no reason to check for a rash as there were no obvious symptoms of septicaemia.
Ms Watson has launched a fundraising page in Lily’s honour after her death.
To donate, click here.
The inquest, expected to last three days, continues.
But just hours later, Lily was rushed to hospital after her lips turned blue and she became unresponsive. She tragically died at Doncaster Royal Infirmary (pictured) that night
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