A Victorian couple is now considering legal action after a coroner ruled their baby boy’s death preventable.
Kristine and Andre Scott’s son, Leroy, passed away from a bacterial infection after spending almost three days in and out of the hospital.
In December a coroner ruled that Leroy’s death could have been prevented if hospital staff treated the baby boy earlier, however Coroner Jacinta Heffey did not hold doctors responsible.
Parents Andre and Kristine Scott are considering legal action to not only gain compensation but raise awareness about hospital delays, hoping hospital staff may read it and consider listening to parents more seriously, reveals Fairfax.
Kristine said in the coronial inquiry, she felt their concerns were landing on deaf ears.
“I felt like I was seeing one baby and the staff were seeing another,” she said.
After their 15-month-old appeared clingy and wasn’t eating, the couple took him to Geelong Hospital on Saturday night of the Anzac Day long weekend in 2011, and waited for over eight hours while the understaffed hospital dealt with patients.
Little Leroy was given paracetamol while he waited, after he struck a fever and began vomiting.
Blood tests were taken once Leroy was treated and while there was a possibility the child had a bacterial infection, the doctors thought a viral infection was most likely, so they did not put the 15-month-old on antibiotics.
After a string of delays in results, miscommunication between doctors and nurses, Leroy was not put on antibiotics until three days later, hours before he died.
The final test results showed Leroy had a severe bacterial infection that kills one in ten people it contracts, reveals Fairfax, even when they’re treated with antibiotics.
After red and purple welts appeared on the 15-month-old, he was put into ICU and doctors attempted to transfer him to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, however foggy weather prevented an air ambulance from picking up the boy. A road ambulance attempted to get to the hospital in time.
“At some point, he was given morphine and then everything started to change. His colour completely faded and he was no longer responsive,” said Kristine.
“I went over to the bed and picked up my baby,” she said, of the news her baby had died.
“Once we got down to the street, I could no longer feel my legs and sat down on the ground with Leroy … I noticed Verelle, one of the ICU nurses, sitting nearby on the edge of the footpath smoking a cigarette and crying.
“Leroy’s suffering and death was avoidable and the heartbreak and longing endured by all those who loved him, unnecessary.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
