‘We are waiting for apology over daughter’s death’

The parents of a five-year-old girl who was sent home from hospital with suspected tonsillitis hours before dying from meningitis have said they are still waiting for a direct apology from the hospital.

Lila Marsland was examined by various medics over several hours at Tameside Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, on 27 December 2023.

But despite displaying warning signs of meningitis, no-one began the treatment which could have saved her life, Manchester South Coroner’s Court heard.

A jury at her inquest ruled Lila’s death was contributed to by hospital neglect. In a statement to the BBC, a hospital trust spokesperson said it “apologised unreservedly”.

Lila’s mother Rachael Mincherton, who was a nurse at the same hospital at the time and had queried whether she could have meningitis, said: “We’ve known for 17 months that she wasn’t treated correctly but to hear neglect – I can’t put into words really.

“Every question was just met with a different excuse.

“You know ‘we haven’t caused this’.

“There was no accountability. We’ve never received an apology.

“The first time we [heard] an apology was when we saw it on the news after the inquest.”

Ms Mincherton, of Hyde, Greater Manchester, took Lila to the hospital’s A&E after finding her lethargic, with a headache and a worryingly fast heartbeat, the inquest heard.

She said she asked if she could possibly have meningitis.

About nine hours after arrrival, Lila was discharged from the observation ward and sent home with her mother.

“I felt reassured by them to be honest,” said Ms Mincherton.

“She was seen by an advanced nurse practitioner, a junior doctor, a senior paediatric registrar and they all reassured me it wouldn’t be meningitis and I put her to bed thinking it wasn’t.

“I trusted them. She’s had quite a few infections before this and she’d always received amazing care so I had no doubt not to trust them.

“I worked for that hospital – you don’t really not trust people do you when you work with them?”

But when she woke up the next morning, she found her daughter unresponsive.

“I knew she’d been dead for quite some time so I rang for an ambulance, started CPR and then the paramedics arrived within five minutes and they couldn’t do anything,” she said.

A jury at Manchester South Coroner’s Court returned a narrative conclusion, finding that Lila died of natural causes and the cause of death was meningitis.

They also decided her death was contributed to by hospital neglect.

Her father Darren Marsland said the outcome of the inquest “wasn’t a victory knowing she had been neglected by someone that you trust”.

Ms Mincherton said more awareness was needed over the signs and symptoms of meningitis to ensure other families do not suffer the same heartache.

Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said: “We’d like to reiterate our statement following the inquest.

“It is clear from the investigation that there were missed opportunities in Lila’s care.

“We accept the coroner’s findings and apologise unreservedly. As a trust we have made and will continue to make improvements to ensure we learn from this case.

“Unfortunately, we are unable to comment further at this time as this is still an ongoing process.”