Girl, 13, who 'asked mum if she would die' before passing away from sepsis dismissed as a 'diva teen' by hospital staff
8 October 2024, 15:12
A schoolgirl who died from sepsis was dismissed by hospital staff as a “dramatic teenager”, an inquest has heard.
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Chloe Longster, 13, was dismissed as a “diva teen” after being admitted to Kettering General Hospital where her pain relief was “delayed”, her mother Louise told the inquest.
Chloe’s mother said she felt she had to “convince” the staff in A&E that her daughter wasn’t well and that she “was not a mum who'd been on Google”.
Chloe had previously been a “healthy” teenager until she was admitted to a paediatric emergency department with severe pain in her lower rib and cold-like symptoms in November 2022.
She was later diagnosed with pneumonia before her condition rapidly deteriorated and she died less than 19 hours following her admission.
She said her daughter had been in so much pain she asked her whether she was going to die - adding: “It's haunting that the 13-year-old was the one who was right.”
The mother claimed she was not informed of a sepsis screening and said pain relief for her daughter was “delayed” with the youngster being treated with “contempt" in the final hours of her life.
During the first day of the a week-long inquest, the mother said she had been left “devastated” by Chloe's death which her family believe was “completely preventable”.
The teenager had been sniffly and had a cough the weekend prior but had been well enough to attend a sleepover while assistant coroner Sophie Lomas also heard Chloe had mild asthma and used inhalers but had never had an asthma attack.
The inquest was told that Chloe was unwell on November 28, so was left at home with her brother 17, with instructions to call if her condition changes.
At around 11.15am Chloe had contacted her mother to say her ribs were in pain and that she had been sick and after her father returned home to check on the teenager, Mrs Longster also came to assess her daughter's condition, the inquest heard.
She said: “I could see she was becoming more and more uncomfortable and panicked about the pain.”
When asked by the coroner if this was unusual for Chloe, the mother said “Yes,” adding: “She liked to go out to dancing, she liked to live and being ill was massively inconvenient for her. It was very out of character.”
After being told an ambulance would take two hours, the mother took Chloe to Kettering General Hospital where she needed a wheelchair to take her in the building due to the pain.
Mrs Longster said: “She asked if she could be put to sleep because she was in so much pain. She said to me ‘stop saying it's going to be OK mum. It hurts.’”
The teenager had a cannula inserted but it fell out whilst she was still in A&E, with her mother and brother later having to take her down to X-ray themselves.
When she returned to the A&E department the mother was told Chloe had a chest infection before a doctor prescribed antibiotics and she was admitted to the Skylark Ward.
When on the children's ward, Mrs Longster said she had to repeatedly ask doctors for more pain relief for her daughter.
“I remember making a comment that it feels like we are chasing her pain, not getting on top of it,” she said.
An on-call doctor then saw Chloe and told her mum she had pneumonia and would need to be admitted for intravenous antibiotics and fluids.
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She also told of how she went straight to the nurses' station when they arrived on the ward, and felt she was having to persuade staff her daughter was unwell.
“I remember in A&E having to convince them she really wasn't well. I was not a mum who'd been on google and she wasn't a dramatic teenager,” Mrs Longster said.
“Somebody [on Skylark] asked: ‘What's your name?’I said I was Chloe Longster's mum and they said ‘we know about her and we'll be round’.
“I remember that sinking feeling because their interpretation of me had obviously transferred upstairs.
“I went back and messaged my husband and said I didn't think they were taking it seriously.“I was told by another mum that there was a poorly baby on the ward and, I get that, but my baby was poorly too.”
When the nurse returned to do observations on Chloe later, she realised her oxygen level had dropped, with Mrs Longster noting: “They initially thought the machine had broken.”
Chloe was moved to a side room and Mrs Longster was told this was because she had tested positive for Influenza A, the inquest heard.
A consultant was called and more people began coming into Chloe's room.
Mrs Longster said: “I asked a nurse if she was going to be OK and the nurse said she didn't know.
“How I got out of the room I don't know, but I just remember hitting the floor and being slumped there.
“It felt like Chloe hadn't been taken seriously about how unwell she was until that point.
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“She had asked me if she was going to die. I took that as her trying to articulate how poorly she felt. It's haunting that the 13-year-old was the one who was right.
“During Chloe's last 18 hours on this earth she was in pain and treated with contempt.”
Mrs Longster said that she got the impression nurses believed Chloe was being “dramatic”.
She outlined an incident where a nurse abruptly told her that by breathing in the way she was, she was making her pain worse.
“I still think there were preconceived ideas,” she said: “Chloe asked for her duvet to be brought in but I thought that was just going to exaggerate the diva teen thing.”
