Neglect led to 20 year old woman's death from sepsis at Derriford Hospital
A coroner has found that neglect in the care of a 20-year-old woman from Cornwall who died from sepsis contributed to her death.
Chloe Rideout, from Coverack, died after being incorrectly discharged from Derriford hospital.
The coroner today agreed with medical experts who gave evidence at the inquest in Truro that she would not have died if she had stayed and been observed.
Her mother Sharon said that Chloe's life was "ripped away from her" and the family want to prevent this from happening to anyone else.
In a damning hearing, Derriford hospital was held responsible for a series of preventable failings that led to Chloe's life being cut tragically short.
Chloe Rideout was happy and healthy - she was a trained hairdresser with ambitions to travel the world.
But in October 2018 she felt very unwell and was taken to Derriford A&E.
Doctors decided she needed an operation to remove her appendix a few days later and it was after this that things started to go wrong.
The coroner and medical experts agree that Chloe should never have been discharged because her condition had deteriorated, she was not given the medication she needed to take home and, crucially, blood tests that showed abnormal results were NOT reviewed by a senior doctor.
The coroner described this discharge as 'manifestly inappropriate'.
It was when she was at home still in pain - Chloe's mother Sharon called NHS 111 because she wasn't happy with the condition her daughter was in and then 999 when Chloe was then taken to Treliske.
But at this stage it was too late and a week after being discharged from Derriford - Chloe died from multiple organ failure brought on by Sepsis.
The deputy medical director for the Plymouth hospital has apologised unreservedly to Chloe's family for the missed opportunities that could have saved her life. Dr Paul McArdle said:
"Following my apology to the family during the inquest, I would like to publicly express our sincere and heartfelt apologies to Chloe's family, on behalf of myself and the Trust for the opportunities that were missed that led to loss of continuity of care for Chloe. Opportunities, which had they been taken, would probably have resulted in a different outcome.
"There is nothing we can say that will change the fact that Chloe was discharged when she shouldn't have been"
And in a statement Chloe's family said:
"We as a family cannot believe that so many professionals did not spot any signs of sepsis and we feel so many people have let Chloe down.
"Chloe was a young lady with her life ahead of her and it has been ripped away from her. We want to make sure any failures from the health care providers are fully investigated and we want to prevent this happening to anyone else."
More information about Sepsis can be found at the Sepsis Trust.
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