Stafford Hospital not to blame for three-year-old's death
A three-year-old boy who passed away at Stafford's County Hospital during a trial for a new milk formula died of natural causes, an inquest has concluded.
Jonnie Meek, of Cannock, died on August 11 last year, just three hours after arriving at the hospital in Weston Road for a pre-booked appointment.
The inquest was heard on January 15 at Cannock Coroner's Court, where his grieving mother April Keeling said her concerns were repeatedly ignored by staff in the hour leading up to his sudden death.
The case was adjourned until last Friday when Margaret Jones, assistant coroner for Staffordshire South, recorded the medical cause of Jonnie's death as pneumonia and concluded he died of natural causes.
The devastated family from Bevan Lee Road released a statement through their medical negligence lawyer.
Victoria Blankstone said: "Jonnie's family have been left absolutely devastated by his death. This is a very difficult time for them and whilst the inquest has gone some way in providing answers to the many questions they had, they remain concerned about the care he received shortly before he died.
"We will continue to work with the family as they come to terms with this tragedy, as well as investigate Jonnie's death further to help them understand exactly what happened."
Jonnie suffered from de Grouchy syndrome, a rare congenital condition caused by a chromosome 18 abnormality. He also suffered from blindness, developmental delay, chest infections, club feet, eczema and was lactose intolerant.
On the day of his death, Miss Keeling had alerted medical staff to his deteriorating condition after he was given the new feed at 1.30pm.
Miss Keeling told the hearing her son became irritable just 15 minutes after the new feed started and she was concerned he was reacting badly.
Miss Keeling said: "His hands were purple and he looked like a ghost. I was really worried. It disgusts me that nobody took any notice of me on that day. I knew that something was wrong."
Jonnie was checked by nurse Amanda Nicholls at 2pm and 3pm who documented his condition as normal.
At 3.30pm, Jonnie was checked again by medical staff and he was coughing. The feed continued and he was given extra suction to clear his secretions.
However at 3.40pm a nurse placed Jonnie on high flow oxygen and called for an emergency team.
Despite CPR attempts, he was pronounced dead at 4.11pm. just two days after his third birthday.
The hospital denied any wrong-doing.
The coroner said: "There is a conflict of evidence over what happened at the hospital between nurse Nicholls and Jonnie's mother.
"I accept that Nurse Nicholls should have included some additional information in her statement, but I do not consider the additional information she provided materially affected the context or accuracy of her statement.
"I express my deepest sympathy to the family, at what is a very difficult time."
