BBC reports Essex NHS trust faces charges over care of two girls who died with sepsis

The Care Quality Commission is prosecuting Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust over the care of two girls who died with sepsis, the BBC reports, citing court documents. The trust, which runs Broomfield Hospital in Essex, faces three charges under the Health and Social Care Act. The BBC says the charges allege that the children’s care and treatment were not provided safely. They have not been determined by a court. [1]

Two charges concern three-year-old Zadie Ajetunmobi, who died in November 2022 within hours of arriving at Broomfield with a temperature of 40C. The BBC reports that she did not receive intravenous antibiotics for more than seven hours. A post-mortem examination attributed her death to complications associated with sepsis, it says. [1]

The third charge concerns Selina Samarina, two, who died at Broomfield in April 2023. She had been sent home after an earlier visit and was later brought back to hospital, according to the BBC. An inquest concluded that she died of natural causes, with sepsis and pneumonia given as the medical cause. [1] [2] [3]

The coroner found that, after the sepsis protocol was triggered during Selina’s first visit, a sufficiently senior doctor was not available to assess her until two and a half hours later, by which time she had gone home. Seven doctors were available across the emergency and paediatric departments that day, compared with the usual 12. Those findings arose from the earlier inquest; they do not decide the new charges. [2]

In a July 2024 response to the coroner, the trust said it had changed how paediatric shifts were allocated to the emergency department and how staffing shortfalls were escalated. Its chief executive, Adam Sewell-Jones, told the BBC the trust was working closely with the CQC and would not comment further during the legal process. The BBC says the trust is expected to enter pleas at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 3 December. [4] [1]