A SIX-year-old girl died from meningitis after doctors mistook her rash for bruises, a damning report has revealed.
Layla-Rose Ermenekli was taken to Royal Oldham Hospital on February 3 suffering a high temperature, headache and stomach ache.
Eight hours later, while still in the hospital, she suffered a cardiac arrest and died the following morning.
An internal investigation by Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, found medics failed to identify a rash on her hip was a sign of meningitis.
It found there were “missed opportunities to identify the severity” of Layla-Rose’s condition, reports Manchester Evening News.
Layla-Rose’s mum, Kristy, took her to the hospital at 8.30pm.
She was seen by a triage nurse after a 25 minute wait and was identified as a priority needing a doctor within ten minutes.
But Layla-Rose, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was not seen by a doctor for another hour and 50 minutes.
A rash was seen on her body but the doctor thought it was a bruise and failed to note it down or speak to her Kristy about it.
He then told Kristy that her daughter had a “viral infection” but that she was fit to go home.
But a nurse insisted Layla-Rose should not be sent home and instead was transferred to the paediatrics ward.
A junior doctor then assessed her and, after noticing the rash, was told by the previous doctor it was just a bruise and not a new symptom.
MORE THAN A RASH What is meningitis, what are the symptoms, how do you get it and is there a vaccine?
Half an hour later a locum doctor noticed the rash, took bloods and began giving her antibiotics for sepsis.
The rash spread quickly and Layla-Rose went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead in the early hours on February 4.
The report said: “The doctor who saw the patient initially did not recognise the rash, which was not documented at the time as being of a worrying nature, as a result the diagnosis of sepsis was missed for three and a half hours, during which treatment opportunities were missed.
“A second opportunity to spot any rashes was missed when the rash was noted prior to transfer and escalated, false reassurance was given that this was not a new finding so no action was taken.”
The report criticised failures to identify Layla-Rose’s sepsis and purpuric rash as an indicator of meningitis.
It called for medics to undergo additional training to identify rashes and staff have been sent a patient alert asked them to consider sepsis when diagnosing unwell children.
Kristy and Ramazan Ermenekli described Layla-Rose as a “much loved, bright, beautiful daughter and sister” who “loved to dance”.
They have raised more than £10,000 for charity Meningitis Now and are campaigning for all children under 16 to receive a vaccination for the disease.
Jawad Husain, medical director at The Royal Oldham Hospital said: “We would like to express our sincere condolences to all of Layla’s family and friends following her sad and tragic death at The Royal Oldham Hospital on 4 February this year.
“We have carried out a thorough investigation into the care and circumstances surrounding Layla’s death and have shared our findings with her parents.
“We continue to be in contact with the family to provide feedback and support.”
Most Read in Uncategorized
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368