Girl died after missed opportunities, inquest finds

There were "missed opportunities" to treat a four-year-old girl who visited A&E and a GP in the 48 hours before her death, an inquest jury has concluded.

Makenna-Rose Thackray died on 20 December 2022 after stopping breathing and going into cardiac arrest.

She was taken to Wakefield's Pinderfields Hospital by ambulance two days earlier but went home after her family endured a fruitless six-hour wait for treatment. They visited a GP the following day and were sent home without antibiotics.

A lawyer for Makenna-Rose's family said the evidence showed the girl's death was "entirely preventable".

On 18 December Makenna-Rose had been taken to children's A&E but the inquest heard the two nurses on shift that night dealt with almost 80 children, instead of the 30 to 40 which could have been safely treated.

Earlier in proceedings, one of the nurses on shift that night, Helen Parker, described the shift as "one of the worst" and when asked if they were under-staffed, replied: "Absolutely, yes."

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 11 July 2024