Latest news with #QEQMHospital
The Independent
5 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Coroner has ‘no doubt' diagnosis could have prevented death of baby boy
A coroner has said there were 'missed opportunities' from 'many' medical visits which could have saved the life of a one-year-old boy. Archie Squire died from heart failure in the early hours of November 23 2023, after successive cardiac arrests, days after his first birthday. He was suffering from a rare heart defect in which the heart's lower half is reversed, which was never diagnosed despite at least 16 visits to medical staff in his 368 days of life. On Friday, the inquest at Kent and Medway Coroner's Court in Maidstone, heard that if Archie had been diagnosed earlier he would 'almost certainly not have died at the time he did'. Area coroner Sarah Clarke said: 'I have no doubt earlier recognition and diagnosis of a very rare heart condition would have made a difference to the outcome for Archie. 'There are many points in the chronology where there were missed opportunities to do something differently to make the diagnosis of Archie's condition more likely.' Archie's parents made repeated visits to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate, Kent, and to St James' Surgery in Dover, with concerns about Archie's breathing and constipation which did not lead to long-term diagnoses. The coroner continued: 'He died as a direct result of heart failure with an underlying congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries – a rare condition that could have been diagnosed by an echocardiogram. 'Despite many presentations to medical personnel in the weeks and months leading up to his death, an echocardiogram was not undertaken.' His mother, Lauren Parrish, from Dover, recalled her son being labelled a 'mystery child' because doctors were not sure what was wrong with him. 'It felt like every time we sought medical help for his breathing he was diagnosed with some form of chest infection,' Ms Parrish said in a statement read by the coroner. Ms Clarke added that if a diagnosis had been found for Archie 'he would almost certainly not have died at the time that he did'. A report by paediatric cardiac surgeon Professor David Anderson noted an 'unacceptable' delay in Archie receiving an echocardiogram after being referred to QEQM by a GP on October 6. He wrote: 'If his diagnosis had been correctly made, he almost certainly would not have died when he did.' It added that 'the delay in obtaining an echo was unacceptable'. Last week, Ravindra Kumar, a paediatric registrar at QEQM responsible for Archie on the night he died, cried in court describing how his work has changed since Archie's death. Asked what he would do differently, Dr Kumar said: 'I regret talking about Archie's condition in front of the family to others, to my colleagues, I learned a big lesson to be more compassionate.' Medical records and Dr Kumar's witness statement suggest he did not see Archie between 9.30pm and 1am on the night he died, the inquest heard. Archie's godmother Nikki Escudier read a pen portrait of Archie to the court. She said: 'Archie Squire was a shining light. A little boy whose laughter, love and joy touched everyone lucky enough to know him. 'Born on November 20 2022, Archie brought happiness into the world from the very beginning. 'In just 368 precious days, he filled every moment with warmth, laughter and the kind of love that stays with you forever. 'His smile lit up the room and his presence left a lasting mark on every heart he touched.' The coroner commended Archie's family on their support for each other throughout the process, and has asked the East Kent Hospitals Trust to provide further evidence of their updated action plans and procedures since Archie's death. At the conclusion of the inquest, Tracey Fletcher, chief executive of East Kent Hospitals, said: 'We offer our sincere condolences to Archie's family. We can only imagine the pain they have endured and we are truly sorry that we did not identify Archie's condition earlier. 'After meeting with Archie's family, we have made important changes to our service. These include one standard process for triage and booking of child referrals, and prioritising the assessment of children referred to us. We will examine further learnings identified through the inquest process. 'Staff across the trust now receive specialised training to improve how clinical concerns, diagnoses and plans are discussed with families in our care. The training for our children's health team specifically draws on lessons learned from Archie's death.'
The Independent
6 days ago
- General
- The Independent
‘Unacceptable' delayed scan could have prevented baby's death, inquest hears
A surgeon has said there were 'unacceptable' delays in obtaining a scan that could have saved the life of a one-year-old boy. Archie Squire died from heart failure in the early hours of November 23 2023, after successive cardiac arrests, days after his first birthday. He was suffering from a rare, undiagnosed heart defect in which the heart's lower half is reversed, an inquest heard. On Thursday, paediatric cardiac surgeon Professor David Anderson was called to give independent medical evidence at Kent and Medway Coroner's Court in Maidstone. He told the court the delay after Archie was referred for an echocardiogram by a GP on October 6 was 'just too long'. The referral to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate, Kent, did not result in an echo scan taking place before Archie died. Prof Anderson, who holds honorary consultant positions in several countries, said: 'If I showed this audience an echo of a heart pumping normally and an echo of a heart not pumping normally, it is absolutely barn-door obvious. 'An echo in advance of his final admission would have enabled the management to be appropriate for his situation.' While the scan would not guarantee an immediate diagnosis, it would have shown 'poor function' of Archie's heart, the inquest heard. A report prepared by Prof Anderson said: 'If his diagnosis had been correctly made, he almost certainly would not have died when he did.' It added that 'the delay in obtaining an echo was unacceptable'. He told the coroner: 'I would hope that it would have prevented him from collapsing into the situation from which he could not be resuscitated. 'We would not have been advising his family that he would have lived a long and happy life and he would have died at an old age, we would have been very, very guarded with our prognosis.' Archie is thought to have suffered from undiagnosed congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA), which has been referenced in his medical cause of death, the inquest heard. Most practitioners will go through their entire working lives without seeing or having to treat CCTGA, Prof Anderson said. 'It's very rare indeed,' he added. Archie did not receive an echocardiogram during the month and a half after being referred by a GP to QEQM, or during his final hospital admission. Prof Anderson said: 'If he had an echo on November 21, which I'm certain would have shown very poor function and I suspect such severe poor function that he would have been referred to Evelina (London Children's Hospital). 'I can only imagine that the function was really pretty awful by this stage and not something that a local hospital would take on to manage.' It is unusual for someone with CCTGA to go into cardiac failure so early in their life, the inquest heard. According to the Adult Congenital Heart Association, just 0.5-1% of babies born with heart defects have CCTGA. The inquest is expected to conclude on Friday.
The Independent
21-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Doctor tells inquest he learned ‘to be more compassionate' since baby's death
A doctor who cared for a one-year-old baby on the night he died of a rare heart condition treated his parents like they 'did not exist', an inquest heard. Archie Squire died from heart failure in the early hours of November 23 2023 after successive cardiac arrests just days after his first birthday. His parents made repeated visits to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate, Kent, with concerns about Archie's breathing and constipation, which did not lead to a long-term diagnosis. On Wednesday, Doctor Ravindra Kumar, a paediatric registrar at QEQM responsible for Archie on the night he died, broke down in tears in court describing how his work has changed since Archie's death. Asked what he would do differently, Dr Kumar said: 'I regret talking about Archie's condition in front of the family to others, to my colleagues, I learned a big lesson to be more compassionate.' Wiping tears from his eyes, he told the court: 'We discussed the child's condition in a manner as if parents did not exist in the room.' Medical records and Dr Kumar's witness statement suggest he did not see Archie between 9.30pm and 1am on the night he died, the inquest heard. On Wednesday at Kent and Medway Coroners Court in Maidstone, the doctor said that this was incorrect. 'I do not recall that I only saw this very sick child only at 9pm to 1am, this is wrong,' said Dr Kumar. He told Emily Raynor, counsel on behalf of the family, that he could not recall why he had not recorded visits to Archie between those hours. 'It isn't in your witness statement and it isn't in your medical records,' said Ms Raynor. Dr Kumar replied: 'I have clear recollection that I examined the child.' Photos and videos of Archie taken by his family from the night in hospital leading up to his death were shown in court to demonstrate his condition. Dr Kumar told the court that these 'snapshots' did not show whether his condition was deteriorating. He said: 'Giving a snapshot of a child does not give justice to clinical management, what we are seeing are snapshots. 'I can't decide on that snapshot of video whether he was sleepy or unwell. It's not fair to comment on the clinical picture.' He admitted that his case writing could have been more methodical, but said that he had followed proper procedure for Archie's care. 'You cannot judge a child's condition by looking at photographs, you have to look at the whole picture.' said Dr Kumar. The inquest continues.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
'Our baby was a gift - but his life was heartbreakingly short'
A family has said "words cannot describe our experience" after their one-year-old baby died at a Kent hospital. Archie Squire suffered heart failure after repeated visits to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate. His godmother Nikki Escudier told an inquest into the toddler's death they had "368 precious days" with Archie that were "filled with warmth and love". "He was more than a baby - he was a gift," she told the inquest at North East Kent Coroner's Court in Maidstone. Holding back tears, Ms Escudier added his life had been "heartbreakingly short". 'We all gave Archie a kiss' Describing the last moments of Archie's life as doctors tried to resuscitate him, his mother Lauren Parrish said the family was told by hospital staff his heart was beating, but "not as it should be"."We agreed to let him go," she said in a statement read out by coroner Sarah Clarke."We all gave Archie a kiss."Archie had a rare heart condition that went undetected before his death on 23 November had been reviewed in the A&E and Urgent Care Centre at QEQM Hospital more than 10 times over his life with symptoms including constipation, breathlessness and failure to thrive. Ms Parrish said at the inquest her son would cry in pain "a lot". She described how he frequently became unsettled and would struggle to breathe, which became worse at night. "He was making strange grunting noises," Ms Parrish added. The day after his first birthday, Archie was taken to hospital with constipation and vomiting. He died two days later following two cardiac arrests. 'Missed opportunities' East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust expressed its "heartfelt condolences" to Archie's did not issue a further comment to the BBC. A serious incident investigations report by the trust, seen by the BBC, found there were "missed opportunities to diagnose him appropriately".Archie's parents have said hospital staff showed a "lack of compassion" after their son inquest started on 19 May and is set to last six days.
