A boy of four died from sepsis after hospital doctors sent him home only minutes before test results confirmed he had a potentially deadly infection, an inquest heard yesterday.
Sheldon Farnell’s condition appeared to be improving and he was discharged – even though it was still unclear what had made him so ill and his mother had begged doctors to give her son antibiotics.
On returning home, Sheldon took a turn for the worse and begged his mother not to let him die.
Meanwhile, hospital staff were trying to phone the family to let them know the results had shown the boy needed urgent treatment – but an admin error meant the contact details were taken from the wrong person. By the time Sheldon was rushed back to hospital early the next morning, he could not be saved. A post-mortem examination found he died of ‘overwhelming sepsis’ that resulted from an ear infection.
