Mother nearly loses her baby to sepsis after GPs turn her away

Mother, 28, nearly loses her baby to sepsis after GPs and hospital staff turn her away dismissing the deadly disease as ‘only a virus’ and telling the pair to go home

  • 11-month-old Peggy Bradford almost died after she was turned away by staff
  • She was later taken to hospital where doctors confirmed she had deadly sepsis
  • Mrs Bradford initially took daughter to the GP on January 11 with a temperature

The vital need for the NHS to get on top of the sepsis scandal has been highlighted after health staff failed to recognise the deadly condition in a baby girl.

Eleven-month-old Peggy Bradford almost died after she was turned away by a GP and a hospital.

Her distraught mother Emma said she was repeatedly told the infant had a virus and should go home.

But the 28-year-old beautician woke in the early hours to find her daughter’s skin had turned grey and her lips were blue – and called 999.

Eleven-month-old Peggy Bradford, from Lincolnshire, almost died after she was turned away by a GP and hospital staff

Peggy (pictured with mother Emma Bradford) was initially to her GP with a temperature on January 11 but was sent home 

Peggy was taken to hospital, where doctors confirmed she had the potentially deadly condition sepsis.

Mrs Bradford yesterday decided to speak out to warn other parents – and said her baby would have died if it weren’t for her ‘mother’s instinct’ that told her something was wrong.

Hitting out at the ‘catalogue of NHS blunders’, she said: ‘If I’d listened to both my GP and hospital staff who were telling me my baby just had a virus then she wouldn’t be here now.


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‘It’s only because I knew that something was seriously wrong with her. No-one would listen to me, and that is quite terrifying when you are convinced that your tiny baby is really ill.’

The Daily Mail’s End the Sepsis Scandal campaign has battled to prevent needless deaths from the condition, which is notoriously difficult to diagnose. 

But it seems cases are still being missed despite a Government-funded awareness campaign and tough new NHS rules designed to speed up diagnosis and treatment.

Mrs Bradford took her daughter to her GP with a temperature on January 11 but claims her concerns were dismissed.

She asked for a second opinion and was told to take her to Peterborough City Hospital. 

But nurses allegedly told her it was a virus and sent her home later that day with the painkiller Ibuprofen.

It was only when her husband Craig, 31, a lorry driver, got up for work at 3.40am the next day and turned their bedroom light on that Mrs Bradford saw how poorly Peggy was and called for an ambulance. 

Mrs Bradford then took her daughter to Peterborough City Hospital for a second opinion but nurses allegedly told her it was a virus and sent her home later that day 

The baby was taken back to hospital, where she was diagnosed with sepsis and given antibiotics just in time.

Mrs Bradford, from Bourne, Lincolnshire, said: ‘It was terrifying to get the diagnosis, as I knew how life-threatening it could be. 

But thankfully she was able to have the treatment in time, and has luckily made a full recovery. But it was thanks to my instinct – if I’d listened to the medical staff who sent us home, then my baby wouldn’t be here now.’

Sepsis occurs when the body over-reacts to an everyday infection or virus. It can be triggered by a chest infection, pneumonia or the flu. It can lead to organ failure and death but can be treated with antibiotics if picked up in time.

Figures out earlier this year showed the number of patients dying from sepsis in English hospitals has jumped by a third in two years. 

Researchers blamed over-crowded wards and staffing shortages. Despite her ordeal, Mrs Bradford was full of praise for the paramedics and ‘fantastic’ nurses who treated Peggy. ‘But it should never have come to that,’ she said.

The family have now lodged a formal complaint with Peterborough City Hospital.

Mrs Bradford said: ‘I am quite a confident person, and felt able to ask for a second opinion. But others may not feel able. I want to raise awareness, if it means just one other mother has the confidence to trust her instincts.’

Sepsis, the leading cause of avoidable deaths in Britain, kills at least 44,000 people a year. The Mail launched its campaign in 2016 following the tragic case of one-year-old William Mead. 

He died from sepsis in Treliske Hospital, near Truro in Cornwall after GPs and other staff missed the warning signs. Lesley Crosby, deputy chief nurse at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, said the complaint was being investigated. 

‘We can also provide absolute assurance that our organisation is focused upon sepsis recognition, treatment and prevention,’ she said.

The Bourne Galletly GP practice said it could not comment due to patient confidentiality. 

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