‘Beautiful’ baby boy died suddenly just ‘hours after doctor diagnosed him with tonsillitis’

A BABY died less than 24 hours after a doctor diagnosed him with tonsillitis, an inquest heard.

Lucas Thomas Munslow, from Flint, Wales, passed away at just nine-months-old from bacterial meningitis, the Ruthin Cornoner’s Court heard.

Lucas Thomas Munslow died less than 24 hours after a doctor diagnosed him with tonsillitis, an inquest heard

He lost his life at the Bodelwyddan hospital on May 18, 2019, where doctors had said he had viral tonsillitis but was safe to return home less than a day earlier.

John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, said staff at the hospital had shown “poor practice” and found the death was “preventable” yesterday.

A statement from Lucas’s family said: “We lost Lucas, our first-born baby boy, in circumstances that could have been avoided.

“We have been left deeply traumatised by the death of Lucas and continue to suffer as we try to come to terms with our loss.

“We hope that this finding leads to key learnings at the trust.

“We will now consider their options as to whether to pursue a claim against the trust (for) clinical negligence.

“We thank the coroner, Mr John Gittins, and welcome his finding of the death of our son being preventable.”

Acute bacterial meningitis is a deadly infection that affects around one in 100,000 Brits, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

It is most common in babies, young children, teens and young adults and attacks the protective membrane around the brain and spinal cord.

Symptoms include a high temperature, being sick, headaches, a rash that does not fade after pressure is applied, a stiff neck, sensitivity to light, drowsiness and seizures.

The condition is incredibly serious but patient outcomes are “excellent” if antimicrobial treatment starts early, according to NICE.

Up to 96 per cent of children survive the illness, the health body said.

The court heard the emergency department did not think Lucas was significantly ill when he was first taken to hospital at around 10pm on May 17.

He was categorised as a yellow case to be seen in an hour, rather than an orange case, which should be seen in 10 minutes.

Nurse practitioner Carol Stevenson noted he was “stiff and vacant” and had a squint in the waiting room, the inquest heard.

He was referred to paediatrics, where on-call doctor Kayode-Awe Olugbemiga saw him hours later and diagnosed tonsillitis after noticing a red throat.

Dr Olugbemiga said there were no “red flags” anything else was wrong with him and his senior Dr Solabomi Alalade also examined Lucas before they agreed to discharge him.

He was released at 1am on May 18 but his parents called 999 at around 6.30pm the same day after he “went stiff” and was unresponsive.

Lucas was rushed back to hospital but his family said “our beautiful baby boy passed away at 11.50pm”.

Dr George Kokai, a pathologist at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, detected evidence of meningitis in his post-mortem.

Mr Gittins recorded a narrative conclusion.