Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2016

Ryan Singh Bhogal

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2016-0038, written 2 Feb 2016. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report2 Feb 2016
Reference2016-0038
DeceasedRyan Singh Bhogal
CoronerZafar Siddique
Coroner areaBlack Country
CategoryCommunity health care and emergency services related deaths · Hospital Death (Clinical Procedures and medical management) related deaths
Organisation namedThe Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Sourcejudiciary.uk record · original PDF
Responses published1

The report

Text extracted from the PDF text layer. Reproduced verbatim, including the scan's own layout.

REGULATION 28:  REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS  

REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS 

THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO: 

1.  Practice Manager, Lockfield Surgery, Croft/Gomer Street, Willenhall, West 

Midlands, WV13 2DR 

2.  Chief Executive, New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton Road, 

Wolverhampton, West Midlans,WV10 0QP 

1 

CORONER 

I am Zafar Siddique, Senior Coroner, for the coroner area of the Black Country. 

2 

CORONER’S LEGAL POWERS 

I make this report under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 
and regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013. 

3 

INVESTIGATION and INQUEST 

On  25  September  2015,  I  commenced  an  investigation  into  the  death  of  Baby  Ryan 
Singh  Bhogal.  The  investigation  concluded  at  the  end  of  the  inquest  on  29  January 
2016. The conclusion of the inquest was the deceased died by way of natural causes on 
the 11 September  2015 from   

1a. Hypotensive Shock 
1b. Acute Myeloid Leukaemia with t(9;11)(p22;q23)KMT2A-MLLT3 

4 

CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH 

1.  During the course of the inquest over two days, I heard evidence that Ryan was 
born on the 9 January 2014 and was by all accounts a thriving and healthy baby 
and toddler during the early part of his life.  Like any other child he would pick up 
colds  and  coughs  which  were  fairly  routine  and  as  responsible  parents  they 
would  seek  advice  from  their  GP  or  Walk  in  centre  staff  as  necessary.    He 
began  crawling  at  around  8  months  and  hit  all  his  key  developmental  targets 
and was up to date with immunisations.  To all intents and purposes he was a 
thriving healthy baby boy. 

2.  The frequency of visits to their GP was increasing and from the 17 September 
2014 to the 7 September 2015 there were over 20 visits.  In addition there were 
several visits to walk in centres and five visits to New Cross Hospital.  On each 
occasion,  he  presented  with  various  symptoms  including  raised  temperature, 
history  of  falls,  and  was  seen  by  various  Health  professionals  from  Junior  to 
Senior  Doctors  including  Consultant  Paediatricians  and  Advanced  Practitioner 
Nurses. 

3.  On the vast majority of occasions, he was diagnosed with a vial illness including 
tonsillitis and the parents were reassured and given painkillers and antibiotics to 
treat him as necessary. 

4.  We also heard evidence that on more than one occasion, the parents described 
symptoms of bleeding gums, puffy eyes, unexplained bruising to his leg and the 
development of a lump appearing on his head lasting for several weeks.   

1 

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 5.  We  heard  descriptions  of  “Red  flags”  for  Leukaemia  and  with  hindsight,  the 
General  Practitioner  representing  the  surgery,  accepted  that  there  may  have 
been  “missed  opportunities”  and  that  partly,  due  to  the  lack  of  continuity  in 
respect  of  which  GP  saw  him  may  have  played  a  factor  in  not  picking  up 
potential  red  flags  earlier  and  seeking  a  second  opinion  or  requesting  a  blood 
test.  

6.  We  also  heard  in  evidence  that  he  visited  New  Cross  Hospital  a  number  of 
times.  We  heard  in  evidence  from  the  various  clinicians  who  treated  Ryan 
specifically  from  the  period  25  July  2015  through  to  9  September  2015.    In 
particular, on the 25 July, Ryan presented with a history of fever for three days 
and we are told there was no evidence of any enlargement of the liver or spleen.  
There  were  no  signs  of  rash  and  he  was  eventually  discharged  home  with 
paracetamol.   

7.  He was readmitted on the 27 July and he had developed a cough and blanching 
rash  on  his  neck,  back  and  chin.    He  also  had  a  red  inflamed  throat  and 
elevated pulse.  This was diagnosed as oral thrush and a viral infection and he 
was  discharged  after  one  set  of  observations.    Again  no  blood  tests  were 
ordered.  When I asked the question, whether the Hospital staff had access to 
GP  records,  the  answer  was  yes;  however,    they  would  only  be  accessed  if 
there was a valid reason to do so, for example,  a safeguarding concern and the 
records  themselves  would  sometimes  appear  upside  down.   
medical opinion was that had a blood test been done on the 7 September it is 
possible that Leukaemia could have been diagnosed.  It is not clear if that earlier 
diagnosis would have made a material difference to the outcome. 

8.  Ryan  then returned  on  the  7  September  and when examined  he was  found  to 
have a slightly distended abdomen.  He also had a raised pulse and his throat 
was  red  with  exudates  on  his  right  tonsil.    We  heard  he  was  subsequently 
discharged again when his pulse rate had improved.   

9.  He was  then  admitted  to  the  Paediatric  Assessment  Unit  at  the same Hospital 
and  a  full  blood  test  was  requested  and  it  was  noted  that  the  liver  and  spleen 
were  enlarged.    Blood  tests  later  showed  metabolic  acidosis  and  low  blood 
sugar  levels.    The  results  for  the  blood  test  were  available  at  around  4.30pm 
(they were requested at 1pm).  At this stage the true extent of Ryan’s condition 
was realized and a proposed diagnosis of Acute myeloid Leukaemia.  

10.  Both parents were spoken to shortly  after 6pm and he was then transferred to 
Birmingham  Children’s  Hospital.  Urgent  chemotherapy  treatment  was  started 
but  sadly  Ryan  deteriorated  rapidly  and  passed  away  on  the  11  September 
2016.  

11.  It was not clear on the balance of probability if an earlier diagnosis or blood test 
in August or September would have made a difference to the outcome because 
this  type  of  Leukaemia  is  a  particularly  aggressive  form  of  the  disease  with  a 
survival rate of around 40 per cent. 

5 

CORONER’S CONCERNS 

During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern. In 
my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken. In the 
circumstances it is my statutory duty to report to you. 

The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows.  –  

2 

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 1.  There was a lack of continuity and overall ownership in terms of treatment Ryan 
received at the GP practice.  He was seen by different Doctor’s including Locum 
staff with no overall holistic approach.  This surgery may wish to consider 
reviewing their policy and management of children who appear excessively for 
treatment to ensure that there is continuity of care and appropriate measures 
are in place.  In addition you may wish to consider reviewing the systems in 
place in identifying “Red Flags” and seeking a second opinion or requesting 
further tests where symptoms or unexplained illnesses are identified for an 
extended period. 

2.  The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust may wish to consider reviewing their 

policy in in relation to when it is appropriate to review GP medical records during 
Hospital admissions.  This is particularly important for young children in order to 
have a clearer history of the patient’s presentation before reaching a diagnosis 
and treatment regime.    

6 

ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN 

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you have the 
power to take such action.  

7 

YOUR RESPONSE 

You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this report, 
namely by 30 March 2016. I, the coroner, may extend the period. 

Your response must contain details of action taken or proposed to be taken, setting out 
the timetable for action. Otherwise you must explain why no action is proposed. 

8 

COPIES and PUBLICATION 

I have sent a copy of my report to the Chief Coroner and to the following Interested 
Persons, Ryan’s parents, 

I am also under a duty to send the Chief Coroner a copy of your response.  

The Chief Coroner may publish either or both in a complete or redacted or summary 
form. He may send a copy of this report to any person who he believes may find it useful 
or of interest. You may make representations to me, the coroner, at the time of your 
response, about the release or the publication of your response by the Chief Coroner. 

9 

2 February 2016                                                   

3 

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Responses

1 response published against this report on judiciary.uk. A response is a body's written reply to the coroner's concerns; publication is at the discretion of the Chief Coroner's office, so an absent response does not mean nobody replied.

Response from The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (PDF)
The Royal Wolverhampton INHS

NHS Trust

New Cross Hospital

Wolverhampton
| West Midlands

WV10 0QP

Mr Zafar Siddique

HM Senior Coroner

Black Country Coroner’s Office

Smethwick Council House

High Street

Smethwick

B66 3NT 29 March 2016

Dear Mr Siddique

RE: REGULATION 28: REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS — INQUEST &
INVESTIGATION INTO THE DEATH OF BABY RYAN SINGH BHOGAL, CONCLUDED
29" JANUARY 2016

| write in response to your report to prevent future deaths regarding the case of baby Ryan Singh
Bhogal whose death was subject to an inquest concluding on 29" January 2016. The matter of
concern raised relating to The Royal Wolverhampton Trust was as follows:

“The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust may wish to consider reviewing their policy in relation
to when it is appropriate to review GP medical records during hospital admissions. This is
particularly important for young children, in order to have a clearer history of the patient’s
presentation before reaching a diagnosis and a treatment regime.”

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust will introduce a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) across
the Trust, providing guidance to all Clinicians to ensure that relevant information relating to individual
patients is taken into account during the patient's initial assessment and subsequent hospital
admission (should the patient be admitted). The SOP will reinforce the requirement to question all
patients (and where appropriate relatives and other individuals) about medical care and investigations
and advice sought, and the necessity to access and review relevant records relating to the patient,
including GP medical records, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust clinical records and/or any other
relevant information held by other organisations (having gone through the relevant channels and
process). The purpose of accessing this information is to ensure that relevant information is taken
into account when assessing, managing and treating the patient. The SOP will apply to all patients
treated at the Trust, including babies, children and adults.

Chairman: Jeremy Vanes
Chief Executive: David Loughton CBE

Preventing Infection — Protecting Patients

A Teaching Trust of the University of Birmingham

Continued .......

The SOP will be approved, authorised and implemented across the Trust by 30 June 2016.
Following approval and implementation, | will send you a copy of the SOP for your attention.
Additionally, we plan to audit compliance against the SOP 6 months following implementation, and |
will forward the results of this audit and any actions arising to you as well.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information.

Yours sincerely

ae 7h An

MEDICAL DIRECTOR

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