Father of girl who died after being sent home from hospital calls for better education about meningitis
The father of a teenager who died after being misdiagnosed by doctors and sent home from hospital has spoken out.
Paul Gentry now wants to raise awareness about meningitis after his 16-year-old daughter Isabel died from the disease last May.
At an inquest the coroner ruled that neglect and gross failures of care contributed to Izzy's death.
After falling ill, Izzy was taken to the Bristol Royal Infirmary, doctors told her she had gastroenteritis and sent her home to recover there. Except she didn't recover and Izzy died from meningitis two days later.
At the end of a week-long inquest into her death, the coroner criticised the doctor who first assessed her, saying "a previous case of meningitis was not acted upon" and the observations and bloods taken were "not normal".
Dr Mark Calloway, Director at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Trust, promised to revise training for doctor's taking patient history, so that underlying symptoms aren't missed in the future. He added, "our commitment is to learn all we can from Isabel's very sad death."
Izzy's father Paul is now calling for better education for both parents and medical staff about the symptoms of the disease and a roll out of the meningitis B vaccine - currently only given out to babies.
He has also led the creation of a special award in the teenager's honour, to be presented to a student at her former school and celebrating acts of kindness.