Oliver Blockley was experiencing vomiting and diarrhoea when he was admitted to hospital. At that point, he was given a 95% possibility of survival. Nevertheless, the four-year-old child died at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire when medics made 28 errors in his treatment.
Oliver was not given the correct treatment that would have kept him alive as he was wrongly diagnosed with gastroenteritis, which is a stomach virus that is resistant to antibiotics. In reality, Oliver was suffering from Strep A, a really invasive form of sore throat bacteria.
The young boy became dehydrated so very quickly as he was refused essential fluids. Septic shock took hold of his little body and he turned grey, before he endured a fatal cardiac arrest only hours after his admission.
His grief-stricken mother Jennifer states that she was “denied information” originally, and was told Oliver would be okay as he just had a stomach bug. She found out much later that her son had been given a 95% probability of survival, had medics acted earlier. Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, which since 2013 has been put into special measures, is ready to award a five figure compensation claim payout to the family, as well as issuing apologies. They now admit to a remarkable 28 counts of medical negligence.
Initially, Ms Blockley was told to go back home to Thame in Oxfordshire and just give Oliver fluids when she presented her son to Stoke Mandeville A&E department in October 2011. Regardless of blood tests showing serious dehydration and the possibility of septic shock, doctors denied giving Oliver antibiotics or supplying him with fluids.
For the duration of the evening, the doctors and nurses did not notice Oliver’s symptoms of septic shock (rapid heart rate and quick breathing). Between 8 PM and 1 PM, the doctors and nurses incredibly did not monitor Oliver at all. Some nurses did observe the grey colour of his skin and his dilated pupils, however the doctors were too late and he died soon after of a cardiac arrest. He had been given antibiotics, but this was only 30 minutes prior to death. His grieving mother claims that nurses were still telling her that Oliver did not have streptococcal but a tummy bug after his death.
So this is yet another terrible case of the NHS basically confessing to mistakes only after legal action has been taken. In what is an already upsetting time for the family, this has caused the family further stress. Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust have commissioned an expert independent review.
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