Girl, 13, died suddenly with cold symptoms just hours after being admitted to ‘ineffective’ hospital
A TEENAGER with cold and flu symptoms died just hours after being admitted to hospital.
Chloe Longster, 13, was suffering from a cough and pain in her lower ribs in November 2022.
She was taken to Kettering General Hospital in Northamptonshire, where she passed away 18 and a half hours later.
Her parents say they witnessed “numerous failings” in Chloe’s care.
The schoolgirl’s cause of death was recorded as sepsis and multiple organ failure. She had no underlying health conditions.
An inquest into the year nine pupil’s death begins later today.
Mum Louise said her daughter, a keen dancer from Market Harborough, Leicestershire, was previously “full of energy” and “healthy”.
Neither she nor her husband Dave were informed of a sepsis screening or told Chloe had not been given antibiotics, despite her visible illness and distressing cough, they allege.
She was also reportedly never given an identification bracelet.
Louise, who works in children’s social care, claims she repeatedly raised concerns about Chloe’s worsening condition but her cries for help were dismissed.
Louise, 40, and Dave, 50, a mechanic, told the Daily Mail: “What happened to Chloe could happen to anyone.
“We were proactive, we asked questions, yet her death was not prevented.”
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited the hospital a month later and downgraded children’s services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘inadequate’.
Inspectors cited concerns around staff numbers, dirt levels and the treatment of sepsis – a life-threatening reaction to an infection.
Charlotte Rudge, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said the watchdog found the trust had “ineffective systems in place to assess and treat people at risk of sepsis”.
She added: “Staff didn’t ensure people received a timely assessment to determine if they were at risk of sepsis.
“If they were at risk, they didn’t always receive treatment as quickly as they should have to help prevent them from coming to harm.”
Chloe brought so much joy, life, happiness and kindness to all those that she came into contact with
Dan Cleary
A separate review by the East Midlands Clinical Senate, commissioned in the same month Chloe died, found “training around quality improvement and learning from incidents in general appeared to be lacking”.
And last year, a BBC investigation highlighted more than 50 cases where families raised serious concerns about the care of their children.
This included one-year-old Jorgie Stanton-Watts, who died from dehydration and sepsis in 2016.
A coroner found her treatment amounted to neglect.
A follow-up inspection noted changes in the hospital’s children’s services. It is now rated as ‘requiring improvement’.
Julie Hogg, the chief nurse at the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group, which oversees Kettering General Hospital and Northampton General Hospital, said: “We offer our condolences to Chloe’s family for their tragic loss.
“We are sorry for any failings in the care we provided and we await the coroner’s conclusion.
“We started our investigation processes in the hours after Chloe’s death, culminating in our national reporting in December 2022.
“We acknowledge this could have been done more quickly.”
What are the symptoms of sepsis?
SEPSIS is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that happens when your immune system overreacts and starts to damage your body's own tissues and organs.
Symptoms of sepsis in an adult include:
- Acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense
- Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
- A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis
- Difficulty breathing, breathlessness or breathing very fast
Symptoms in a child include:
- Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
- A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis
- Difficulty breathing (you may notice grunting noises or their stomach sucking under their ribcage), breathlessness or breathing very fast
- A weak, high-pitched cry that’s not like their normal cry
- Not responding like they normally do, or not interested in feeding or normal activities
- Being sleepier than normal or having difficulty waking
They may not have all these symptoms.
If you think you or someone else has symptoms of sepsis, call 999 or go to A&E.
Source: NHS
A CQC spokesperson added: “The CQC is aware of the sad death of Chloe Longster, who was receiving care from Kettering General Hospital.
“Our condolences are with her family and friends at this sad time.
“We are liaising with the trust to establish the circumstances around Chloe’s death, to determine whether there is any regulatory action we may need to take.
“CQC’s priority, at all times, is the health and wellbeing of people using health and social care services, and all information we receive informs our monitoring of services and future inspections.
“If we’re not satisfied people are receiving safe care, we will not hesitate to take action in line with our regulatory powers.”
Dan Cleary, principal at Robert Smyth Academy where Chloe was a student, described her as “a vibrant, talented and compassionate individual”.
“She brought so much joy, life, happiness and kindness to all those that she came into contact with,” he added.