Delayed diagnosis & treatment of sepsis results in the loss grandmother

X was a kidney patient. She had a successful Kidney transplant but complications afterwards meant that she was readmitted to Leicester General Hospital on two occasions in the weeks following the surgery. The transplanted kidney was functioning well, despite the complications.   X went back to Leicester General Hospital for a third time because the symptoms became much worse. She was admitted again, and it was suspected that she had a urinary tract infection. Antibiotics were started. 

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X remained in hospital, but two days after she was admitted, her temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure started to become abnormal.

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Early on her third day in hospital, X still had a high temperature and complained of severe pain in her abdomen. Her urine output also decreased. She was given more antibiotics, and IV fluids were started. However, there were repeated failures to monitor X throughout the day, so changes in her condition were not seen in good time.

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When she was eventually reviewed by a doctor, X’s condition had deteriorated considerably. Her heart rate, temperature, and blood pressure were worse, she was confused and was struggling to speak.

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It was decided that X should be transferred to the intensive care unit because she was so poorly; however, the transfer was not attempted for around 3 hours.

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X deteriorated further during the transfer and had a cardiac arrest. Doctors managed to resuscitate her, but she arrested again shortly afterwards, and she sadly died. The cause of X’s death was cardiac arrest and sepsis.

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We investigated the claim on behalf of X’s family and obtained supportive expert evidence. Several allegations were made against University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, and it admitted that it had negligently failed to suspect that X had sepsis, failed to manage her condition to prevent her deteriorating further and that this caused her death.

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Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises in response to an infection already present in the body.

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5 people die in the UK every day due to sepsis.

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Some of the symptoms of sepsis are:
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• High temperature.
• Abnormal breathing / heart rate.
• Abnormal blood pressure.
• Slurring speech.
• Confusion.
• Not passing much / any urine.

X had all the above symptoms, and some other signs that suggest sepsis. It was admitted that if sepsis had been diagnosed and treated earlier, X would have survived. We negotiated a settlement for X’s family, even though no amount of compensation could replace what they had lost.