Harrowing account of Martha Mill's death at 13 in Guardian today

[StaplesCorner]

I don't think there's another thread on this already I did a search, but I think this needs to be widely read - there seems to have been no lack of NHS resources here whatsoever, but consultants' arrogance by the spade; shades of This is Going to Hurt? Every parents' worst nightmare:

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/sep/03/13-year-old-daughter-dead-in-five-weeks-hospital-mistakes

Not cost. She says the paed staff were level 7 and PICU were level 5 so they looked down on them and assumed they couldn;t do as good a job,. Not quite sure how intensive care is lower status than strutting the ward in your bow tie. But it was arrogance that killed her.

What a stupid and offensive post. Stop using the fear factor of a privatised NHS - in which the staff currently there will still be employed - to defend the indefensible. People involved didn't do their jobs properly, were too arrogant to reconsider anything, and a young girl died as a result. THAT'S toxic.

My advice to people is to speak to PALS as well as standing your ground. They will have a location in the hospital but also a phone number and email addpdpg. PALS as someone said isn't necessarily on your side - their aim is to defuse any more formal complaint - but it is an avenue that signals you are concerned and won't go away too easily. Have a notebook with you and make notes every time you speak to a doctor and get their name. None of this is foolproof but sadly as a pp said, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

The ratio of patients is far lower in ICU though. Isn't it one-one or one-two in some cases.
My dad had a spell in ICU and he was in a room on his own with one member of staff

One thing that resonates with me here is that there was a "ward culture". I've been with vulnerable family members, same hospital, different wards, and the ethos has been miles apart. Dr / Consultant x knows best and won't want to be disturbed vs Dr / Consultant y will want to know about this today.

It's partly the most senior Drs attitude, which trickles down; partly the group dynamic which forms over time.

DM and I have had a very chequered relationship but I will always help her and be there for her because she was the one who saved my life when my labour went very wrong. The midwives tried to keep me in midwife care and LIED to the consultant team about my condition. DH was cowed by the white coats but DM rose up like a fucking warrior and fought and fought and fought. I know she saved DS and I, we were so so unwell. I would never trust them. It is terrifying.

Gosh, i just read this and had a cry. What an absolutely devasting sequence of events that could have been so easily avoided. FWIW, Merope wrote that article beautifully - every single person who works in the NHS should read it.

As with so others on this thread, we are another family who has suffered due to NHS negligence when it comes to sepsis. DD developed GBS sepsis at 23hrs old and despite me raising concerns with 3 different midwives from 3hrs old onwards about some worrying symptoms, it was brushed off for various reasons (she's small, she's early etc...) until a neonatologist came to see her and she was rushed straight to NICU. That doctor probably saved her life. Like others, the ward was full of posters talking about the signs of sepsis.

The country should be up in arms about what is going on in our healthcare system right now.

If Dh hadn’t been there not sure dd1 would have made it out of our hideous hospital alive, We both had mild ptsd symptoms for a few weeks afterwards we would both wake up screaming at night.

Well done your mum baduncle. Luckily Dh is like her he needed counselling after that birth

I've been crying on and off all day after reading it. It's knocked the wind out of me.

That’s awful! Maternity care is pretty shocking in my opinion. Particularly if you have any risk factors.

Reading this has left me feeling utterly furious. There are so many instances where as a HCP I would demand an ICU review, especially in patient with a pancreatic injury - bleeding from her lines, collapsing with diarrhoea, high early warning scores. This is just negligence and egotism - Consultant knows best.

This is just inexcusable, from the nursing staff to the consultants, and to all who have allowed such a culture to fester.

Yes, consultants know a lot. Yes, they have been doctors for a long time. But they are placed on such a high pedestal, that they are often impossible to reach.

I used to live in the Uk. Now I’m in a small European Country. Here is is health insurance - you can choose - basic, private, semi private and after basic you can pay to add additional items on. Even on basic the care is good. You may not be able to choose your surgeon or a private room if you have an operation but you can pay for this or if your case is complicated they will make sure the right Level of experiences does the op. It’s not perfect but it is infinitely better than in the Uk. Some of the stories I hear from family and friends are horrifying. My brother in law has waited 2 years to have his broken shoulder operated on.
The NHS is like a religion. Never to be questioned. And because people perceive it to be free they are grateful for their treatment. But Uk residents pay for this treatment through there taxes. It’s not something to be grateful for. We need to move towards the European insurance style system.

My heart broke for Martha, her amazing family and the needless, bleak despair of her death.

I had my first son at Kings a few years ago. After four days on the post natal ward I was discharged, dispite some worrying symptoms. Before I left I was unable to hold the baby to feed him as I felt so weak. I also thought I had a UTI and my boobs were really painful. no one seemed concerned. I’d seen a doctor about five times - no tests were ordered. Classic case of mum being the least important person once the child arrived.

On the day we were discharged we got home about 4pm. I sat through a visit from my parents and tried to eat some chili, but couldn’t stomach it. By 10pm I was sitting on a chair in my bedroom shivering unable to work out how to put my nursing bra on. When I lifted my hands up it was as if they were disconnected from my body. I got into bed and when DH did my temperature it was 41c, though I was freezing cold. My husband wanted me to go to hospital but I kept saying, “I can’t”, over and over. He called the ward and I got readmited, though I didn’t get a bed until 3am. I was later told I had sepsis from multiple infections and I was in hospital for ages. It completely robbed me of the first few months with my son. The antibiotics that undoubtedly saved my life gave me nipple thrush, feeding was agony. I didn’t leave the house with him until he was six weeks old. I looked at all the other NCT mums who were baking cakes and hosting coffee mornings in disbelief.

Looking back, I should never have been discharged in the first place, but they were desperate for beds. The midwives were amazing but the doctors I felt were dismissive. I had complained of bladder urgency on multiple occasions and no one checked my urine at all. A midwife had seen me just before I left with red angry hot looking boobs and not mentioned mastitis. It was as if the birth left my body in shock. I had no idea how sick I was. You trust the medical staff to know and to recognise anyone in danger.

I did have another son and a hugely different newborn experience. I was terrified it was going to be the same the second time.

I had 3 years of therapy for my PTSD. It still comes back at times. Horrific. At one point I was vomiting, stuck on my bad and unable to love due to the epidural. DH was drifting into and out of sleep and the midwives were chatting as I choked on my vomit. I will never forget the utter terror. I can't talk about this in RL as people get so nasty and blame me/accuse me of hysteria.

I feel really weird writing and reading these stories

Such an awful story. So many flags we are taught about again and again not to ignore, parents being concerned being one of them. I work in another big London teaching hospital with sick kids and am so grateful to work in a team that respects each other but holds each other up to high standards. My heart breaks for the family x

I agree with every word of this.

Heartbreaking but I am completely unsurprised by this and the countless other similar stories.

Ime there are two massive massive problems with hospitals.

The first is arrogance and the second is the closing ranks culture.

My son and I nearly died during his birth. I did sue them for his injuries and they lied, lied and lied. 'lost' notes. Doctored them. It took years to prove it and to win.

Never got an apology.

The doctor who nearly killed him somehow vanished oh we've no idea where she is 🙄

I would really like there to be an end to the knee jerk never criticise the NHS it's the envy of the world claptrap that is a barrier to identifying really bad problems and changing things.

Heartbreaking and all too familiar in terms of the negligence and egos I’ve seen in the NHS.

I’ve made several formal complaints about my hospital (Norwich) because they’ve nearly killed me several times with their sheer lack of understanding of Addison’s disease. It may be a rare condition but it’s amazingly easy to treat- replacement steroids. That’s it. In an emergency situation they’re meant to give IV hydrocortisone BEFORE anything else in order to stop me going into a fatal adrenal crisis but they never fucking do. Their egos mean they don’t trust me when I’m presenting them with printed evidence from the Addisons society. They just get angry with me and dismiss me and I’m absolutely sick of it.

These people are not Gods. Not at all and we need to stop pretending they are and speak up more.

My heart is breaking reading this.

As a parent it is so hard, you want to do what’s best for your children but when faced with experienced Drs it can be hard as they are supposed to know what’s best and as a parent you may be irrational or have no idea what’s best.

A nurse practitioner once told me to never ever ignore my gut, this was in relation to being dismissed by GPs about my DD (her own bosses). She said even if it turns out to be noting push push and push until your satisfied the results are right. I will always be great full to her for telling me this.

Was coming on to say similar the aviation industry has worked really hard to overcome this issue and train staff plus recognise that mistakes do happen but if we hide or cover them up then no one can learn from them.

The book black box thinking has very interesting take on this, which I think could work if enough people within the NHS bought into it.

A heartbreaking account, and too common and frequent.

In Queensland Australia, and since 2013, parents can request a ‘Ryan’s Rule’ that allows patients, parents or caregivers to request an immediate independent clinical review if the patient's health condition is getting worse or not improving as well as expected:

clinicalexcellence.qld.gov.au/priority-areas/safety-and-quality/ryans-rule

To address precisely this situation. Where parents can see their child deteriorating and have concerns that the care given is inadequate having regard to their child’s presentation. I understand it has saved lives.

RIP beautiful Martha. I am so sorry you were let down by the very Doctors whose jobs were to save you

Absolutely heartbreaking- you can’t imagine that happening in the UK.

And it really didn’t need to happen.

So they put their egos above the care of a sick, young, girl. All of those involved need to be investigated and struck off ASAP. It is disgusting beyond words.

Another person here (a doctor) who has just narrowly survived sepsis and is trying to raise awareness among her medical colleagues

www.facebook.com/642168809/posts/pfbid0365SJVNVd99MYsQmAgbMyZK9h9TEtdn6D98Y7SCX589LqEs4GVSSS1BUpdZPXP1u6l/?d=n