The decision to send a young woman home out of the hospital, even though she has contributed 'clear' signs of meningitis 'more than minimally' to her death, has ruled a jury investigation.
Sophie Ward, 20, from London died 'bleeding from her eyes', less than 24 hours after doctors told her that she had flu, instead of the deadly infection.
The statement today comes as Sophie's father Paul Ward, MailOnline said that he believes that the treatment of his daughter was “defective, inappropriate and unsafe.”
He said that Sophie's mother, Alice, repeatedly concerned with medical professionals that their daughter had meningitis, but this was overlooked.
The research heard this week that Sophie was fired from Barnet Hospital in Noord -Londen on advice that she had a viral infection and 'would be safer at home'.
Doctors said that the blood, urine and CT scan they had all performed clearly came back – but a lumbar puncture, the main test to check for meningitis, was not done.
Sophie, who suffered from eleven symptoms of meningitis, including severe headaches, body pain and fever, then became seriously ill.
Her family called 999 the next morning, but by the time she was returned to A&E, it was too late to save her. She died less than 24 hours later on meningitis septicemia.
Sophie Ward (photo), an art student from London, was incorrectly diagnosed with the flu in the Barnet -Hospital, despite the fact that I presented 1 1 symptoms of meningitis
Sophie (depicted with her father Paul) was told that her serious headache was probably caused by a viral infection and that she would be safer at home
Mr. Ward, who has now collected £ 20,000 for meningitis, explained that Sophie (photo) started to feel unwell on the afternoon of Sunday, July 30, 2023
A jury of jury at Barnet Coroners 'Court has now ruled that the decision to discharge Sophie and not to manage antibiotics in the area of ​​likely' that has more than minimally contributed to her death.
The coroner also sent his participation in the Sophie family and said there was nothing left for her to have done.
Speaking with MailOnline, Mr. Ward expressed his concern about the treatment of his daughter in the Barnet Hospital.
The 58-year-old, who has now collected £ 20,000 for the meningitis for charities, said: 'At the reception [Alice] Said “I'm worried about meningitis,” at Triage she said “I'm worried about meningitis.”
“Then, later to the doctor, she said,” I'm worried about meningitis. “
“The doctor said it could be the flu, you know. He didn't know what it was.
“He said it might have been a viral infection. He didn't know what it was and based on that he dismissed Sophie, and that was an unsafe and defective thing to do.
'It was a serious mistake and my opinion, my observation of what happened is this serious mistake that did not only generate spontaneously.
“It happened because his approach to Sophie was carefree.”
An investigation into the death of Sophie will be held this week at the court of Barnet Coroner in Noord -Londen
Sophie became seriously ill at night and by the time she had been returned to A&E, it was too late to save her
Mr. Ward explained that Sophie started to feel unwell on the afternoon of Sunday, July 30, 2023.
He said she suffered from painful shoulders, neck and head and an overwhelming fatigue and aversion to light.
“She said,” Things hurt, my head kills me. ” Alice, who is Sophie's mother, then called 111, “said Mr. Ward.
'They described the symptoms of Sophie and it was a fairly clear indication or certainly a suspicion of meningitis.
'It was not normal, if someone has the flu, they feel unwell. It wasn't like that.
“Sophie had flu, maybe a few times in her life, she would not go anywhere near a hospital, or, indeed, in that respect, 111. But this was different.”
Mr. Ward, 58, said that Sophie, who was a first -year student at the Wimbledon College of Art, spent about six hours in the hospital before she was sent home with a suspected viral infection.
He continued: 'She came home. We have made her comfortable. We thought that meningitis was excluded and excluded.
“She had deteriorated further and we called the ambulance by the morning.
“But it was too late to save her life. They tried it in the ambulance, they tried it in the Emergency Department and they tried it on the ICU. '
Mr. Ward brought tribute to Sophie: 'If you met her, you would have been through her creativity, you would be struck by her softness.
“She also had so many other great qualities. She was funny. If you were Sophie's older, you would be a very happy parent. She was such a happy and fulfilled person. '
Displayed: Barnet Hospital, where Sophie died of the blood distribution of meningitis on July 31, 2023
On Monday, the research in North -London heard evidence from the nurse that Sophie met on July 30.
The hearing was told that Sophie was only tried after he had been in the hospital for two hours instead of the 15 -minute target.
The nurse said they could not remember if they asked a doctor to check Sophie because of her symptoms of meningitis, Mylondon reported.
She told the hearing that said that getting a second opinion 'often their practice to do this' is, but it was not certain whether it was done in this case.
Speaking of his fundraising, Mr. Ward told MailOnline: 'When your daughter dies, people respond differently.
'On the one hand, it was not possible to come from the death of Sophie or you just try to do something, so I did some fundraising to support the charities of meningitis.
'There was a kind of intentional decision to split our fundraising efforts between the two most important meningitis foundations.
'A lot of progress has been made in the UK about reducing the deaths and damage of meningitis in the last 20 years. But more is needed.
'For example, meningitis now has a vision to reduce the deaths by meningitis to 0 in the UK. And I think that's feasible.
“The fundraising, research, the vaccines of consciousness – it all makes a kind of small contribution to that.”
A spokesperson for Barnet Hospital said: 'We would like to share our deepest condolences with Sophie's family and to apologize to them that Sophie died during our care.
'We take the findings of the jury in this study extremely seriously and will carefully revise the evidence that was heard together with the report of research.
'Steps have been taken to improve the awareness of sepsis and meningitis among our medical staff, including keeping a staff learning event to hear from both Sophie's family and the meningitis research foundation.
“We also remind you of the Emergency Department that senior doctors are available for advice and to emphasize the importance of listening to the concerns of patients and families.”
