The parents of a boy who died hours after being wrongly diagnosed with tonsillitis are still waiting for an apology six months after a coroner blasted bungling NHS staff.
Callum Cartlidge was rushed to A&E on March 2 last year after he began vomiting and showing signs of dehydration.
The youngster was discharged from the Worcestershire Royal Hospital at 11pm after doctors diagnosed him with tonsillitis and a ‘stomach flu’.
Callum tragically died the next day after he suffered a cardiac arrest at home in Redditch, Worcestershire.
A post-mortem revealed he had been having an Addisonian crisis, which occurs when the body cannot produce sufficient amounts of the hormone cortisol and requires emergency treatment.
Callum Cartlidge died on March 3 last year from a cardiac arrest after doctors at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital dismissed his symptoms as tonsillitis and a ‘stomach flu’
His father Aidy (pictured with Callum and his twin brother) claims that he and the youngster’s mother Stacey are still waiting for an apology from the hospital trust six months after a coroner slammed staff at the treatment centre for failing to provide ‘basic medical attention’
Callum was discharged from the Worcestershire Royal Hospital (pictured) on March 2 2017 at 11pm. Assistant coroner David Reid slammed medics for not carrying out basic blood tests
Callum’s family released a statement today saying they are still waiting for an official apology from the hospital six months after the inquest.
In the statement, his parents Stacey, 34, and Aidy, 38, said: ‘The day Callum died our family changed forever.
‘Callum was such a fun, infectious boy who was loved by everyone. He had his whole life ahead of him.
‘We are upset at the hospital Trust and the stance it has taken throughout this.
‘Six months after the inquest we feel it is still trying to avoid the issue of Callum’s death.
They added: ‘All we have ever wanted is to fully establish why Callum died and what measures have been taken so other families don’t have to live with the hurt and pain that we continue to experience.
‘An apology won’t bring Callum back but at least if the Trust said sorry and said what is being done to help patients, our family may be able to try and move on.’
Callum’s parents described him as ‘such a fun, infectious boy who was loved by everyone’
Following his discharge, Callum was rushed back to the Worcestershire Royal – 21 miles from his family’s home, after he went into a cardiac arrest at 3.25pm.
Paramedics managed to get him to hospital in just 23 minutes but he died shortly after arriving.
Assistant coroner David Reid slammed medics at the Worcestershire Royal saying they ‘failed to provide basic medical care.’
‘Not enough attention was paid to the overall clinical picture on other things that had been going on before Callum’s arrival in hospital as well as once he arrived there, and didn’t fit with the diagnosis of gastroenteritis,’ he said.
‘Not enough was done to exclude other possible causes.
‘For all those reasons, I find the decision not to carry out blood tests and instead to discharge Callum was not a reasonable one in the circumstances.
‘I find that the failure to carry out blood tests on March 2 was a failure to provide basic medical attention.’
His parents claim their family will never be the same again after Callum died when he had ‘his whole life ahead of him’. Although they acknowledge an apology will not bring him back, they want the circumstances around his death to be examined so others do not have to suffe
An Addisonian crisis affects people with Addison disease, which is a rare disorder of the adrenal glands.
The disease has around 8,400 sufferers in the UK. Callum was not diagnosed before his death.
An adrenal crisis occurs when a patient’s symptoms suddenly get worse. If a patient lived to be 100, they would statistically suffer between five and 10 crises.
Advanced nurse practitioner Susan Tonks, who first examined Callum at the GP surgery Winyates Health Centre in Redditch on February 28, diagnosed him with tonsilitis.
She said: ‘I understand what Addison’s disease is now – I didn’t know what it was at the time.’
Callum returned to the surgery on March 2 – the day before he died – when he was seen by Dr Ikram Ul-haq.
In a statement, the doctor said: ‘His mother rang the surgery and reported Callum was vomiting after taking penicillin and the mother wanted to change the antibiotic.
‘He was vomiting clear fluid but brown on the day with no blood in the vomit.
‘Callum had drunk some water before he came to see me, on examination he was clinically dehydrated.
‘He had sunken eyes, he was floppy, very lethargic and his pulse was 120. He was peripherally shut down.
‘On examination of his throat he had large red tonsils.’
Dr Ul-haq gave Callum some glucose to raise his blood sugar before calling 999.
His parents believe an apology may allow them to make peace with his death and ‘move on’
Zara Oliver, an A&E paediatric nurse, who was on duty when Callum was admitted on March 2, said: ‘He came about 3.45pm, arrived by ambulance with his mum.
‘His pain score was five out of ten, he was in mild to moderate discomfort.
‘He was pale and looked dehydrated, he was just sat on the trolley.
‘He kind of just missed the mark, it was borderline whether I could have done another (observation) or not (as he was in there for just over two hours, which is the time between observations).
‘He was sipping water.’
Posting on Facebook after his death, his distraught mother wrote: ‘RIP my darling son Callum. Words cannot describe how we are all feeling.
‘I love you so much son, fly high baby boy I will see you again I promise. Goodnight darling.’
Callum had a cardiac arrest at his home (pictured) in Redditch, Worcestershire. He was rushed to the Worcestershire Royal – 21 miles away. He lived 1.9 miles from Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, but it stopped taking paediatric emergencies due to a shortage of doctors
Caroline Brogan, a specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, who are representing the family, said: ‘Stacey and Aidy are distraught that no one at the Trust has ever apologised for the death of their boy.
‘This continues to be the case six months after the inquest. We are still waiting to receive the Trust’s formal response.
‘Nothing can ever make up for Callum’s death but his family would like to try and move on with their lives the best they can. An apology would provide them with some kind of closure.’
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has been approached for comment.
The youngster lived just 1.9 miles away from Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, however, it stopped taking paediatric emergencies due to a shortage of doctors.
NHS bosses said patients would be transferred instead to Worcestershire Royal Hospital as the Alexandra ‘didn’t have the staff to ensure patient safety.’
Neal Stote, the former chairman of the Save the Alexandra hospital campaign, said the incident made a ‘mockery’ of having an A&E unit at the Redditch hospital.