Girl, 2, may ‘have lived longer’ if not for delays prescribing antibiotics, inquest hears

A two-year-old girl who died of “overwhelming sepsis” would have lived longer if she had been given antibiotics sooner, an has heard.

Adam Hodgkinson took his youngest daughter, Ava, to see a GP at Beacon Primary Care in Ormskirk, Lancashire, on December 13, 2022.

During the visit, the GP, who was aware of the heightened presence of Group A Streptococcus, also known as Strep A, requested a specialist nurse practitioner to issue a prescription for amoxicillin at 1pm. However, the prescription was not completed until 2:04pm, jurors at the inquest were told. 

The pharmacy then discovered that it did not have the requested dose of amoxicillin in stock and contacted the GP surgery for an alternative.

The alternative prescription was not issued until the following morning. Ava did not receive her first dose of antibiotics until 9:30am on December 14. 

Later that day, Ava’s mother, Jade, rushed her to Ormskirk District General Hospital, where Ava collapsed and died from “overwhelming sepsis”.

The inquest into Ava’s death, which began on Monday, January 6, at County Hall in Preston, heard that there was a nationwide shortage of amoxicillin at the time because of increased demand caused by the spike in Strep A cases.

Dr Sharryn Gardner, who worked at the hospital, told the inquest that the antibiotics may have prolonged Ava’s life and agreed with the coroner that the direct cause of Ava’s death was sepsis. 

While Strep A bacteria was not found in Ava’s samples, both her siblings had been diagnosed with it, the doctor said. The expert told the inquest when asked to explain why she concluded that Ava had Strep A: “Ava’s siblings both had it and a lot of people can carry it and be asymptomatic and then suddenly it becomes invasive and they develop sepsis.”

Asked if starting antibiotics sooner would have made a difference, Dr Gardner said: “You can never know and I don’t think you can say. You don’t know when it is suddenly going to become sepsis.”

However, when pressed by area coroner Chris Long about whether it was more likely than not that Ava would have lived longer had she received the medication “as originally planned,” she replied: “It is more likely she would have lived for longer.”

Dr Rosalind Bonsor, GP partner at Beacon Primary Care, said that there had been an increase in parents bringing their children in because of concerns about Strep A, meaning that there was “no sense of urgency” when it came to Ava.

She said: “They had heard that this dangerous thing was about nationally. I don’t think the increased numbers reflected the increased prevalence – it reflected the increased concern.”

The GP added: “It wasn’t felt to be urgent with Ava. I can see why it ended up being urgent the following morning. There was no sense of urgency.”

The inquest, which is due to last four days, continues.