Doctors didn't listen to me: My baby was given 10 times too much antibiotic drug and died in hospital

Jade Smith’s baby Hunter Martin died on March 6 last year after receiving 10 times the recommended dose of Clyndamycin. He should have been given 94 milligrams of strong antibiotic drug Clyndamycin after being admitted to the hospital’s high dependency ward with sepsis. However medics at the hospital, which has already admitted the mistake, gave him 940 milligrams.

A Chesterfield inquest into Hunter’s death heard this week that the extremely high dose was given to the baby on five separate occasions before his death. In a statement read out to the court mum Jade Smith described “textbook baby” Hunter as her “bonny blue-eyed angel” who had an “infectious laugh that would cheer anyone up”. The inquest heard how on March 4 last year six-month-old Hunter Martin was brought to Chesterfield Royal Hospital by his parents with a high temperature, having contracted chicken pox at home. However, mum and dad, Jade Smith and Alex Martin, were sent home with the youngster when his temperature later came down again.

Coroner Peter Nieto told a jury sworn in to hear the evidence: “The next day, on March 5, Hunter’s mum and dad found him drowsy and were advised to take him back to hospital. He was found to be significantly unwell at that point and was moved to a high-dependency bed.”

The coroner described how Hunter was later transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, having suffered a cardiac arrest. He died there on March 6. In her statement, heard during today’s inquest, mum Jade described how she and partner Alex took Hunter home on March 4 under the advise of medical professionals because they “didn’t seem concerned”.

She told how on the afternoon of June 4 she noticed Hunter’s belly button was “protruding and purple” in colour, informing hospital staff, however this had not been included in hospital staff statements to the inquest. Speaking about finding the tot “almost grey” and “unresponsive” on the morning of March 5 and taking him back to CRH later the same day, she said: “When staff finally saw Hunter you could see the instant panic on their faces. It was all hands on deck trying to get cannulas into him.”

Jade said the day was a “blur”, however she recalled Hunter “swelling up” as if someone had injected water into his forehead and around his face, but was told at the time this was probably due to excess fluid. She described how during the evening of Sunday March 5 a nurse caring for Hunter “seemed a bit concerned” but she felt the nurse’s concerns had been “disregarded because she wasn’t a doctor”.

The next day, March 6, Jade and Alex were told by a hospital consultant that he thought Hunter was going to die. After being transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital the couple were told Hunter was in cardiac arrest. Staff were unable to resuscitate him. Jade said on March 17 she and Alex were called by CRH and asked to attend a meeting. It was during this meeting that they were informed of the antibiotic overdose – more than 10 days after Hunter’s death.

Speaking about Hunter’s care in her statement, Jade said: “I don’t believe that Hunter should have been discharged from hospital on the Saturday. If he had a blood test or a swab at the time this could have shown that he had an infection and possibly picked up the sepsis or (Group A streptococcus). I’m a big believer that a child’s parents know them best, so they should be listened to when it comes to the care of their child."

She described how Hunter’s older brother Harvey, six, was “struggling with losing his brother”, adding: “Consoling our six-year-old when he’s crying himself to sleep as he’s pining for his little brother is something we never imagined that we would have to do.

"As we move forward with our lives there will always be an empty space, always a what if. Mistakes of this size should not be happening. We hope Hunter’s story will change the way medical professionals work. Families should not be being ripped apart. We miss Hunter terribly and our lives will never be the same. There’s a deathly silence that lingers over our lives now. This will affect our lives forever.”

In a statement read out to the inquest Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (CRH) admitted several mistakes concerning Hunter’s care. Jurors heard how Hunter’s high temperature and heart rate on March 4 were thought to be caused by a combination of chicken pox and viral gastroenteritis. The Trust said staff gave the baby ibuprofen against Trust guidelines for treating chickenpox, for his fever, adding “it’s possible the ibuprofen masked early signs of (sepsis) infection”.

Its statement read: “Hunter should have had a clinical review at that time and been kept in for longer observation. Hunter should have remained an inpatient until his fever and heart-rate were sufficiently controlled without combined use of paracetamol and ibuprofen.”

The Trust added that, had the bacterial infection been treated on March 4, the baby would have survived. CRH accepted in the statement that “with hindsight” there were later “missed opportunities” to spot worsening features of sepsis in Hunter’s case and transfer him to tertiary intensive care at CRH. The Trust offered a “profound” apology to Hunter’s parents over the overdose of antibiotic drug Clyndamycin, saying “it should not have happened”. It added that improvements had been identified since at the hospital which needed to be carried out.

Stephanie Martin, a toxicologist at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital, told the inquest she was unable to say whether the antibiotic overdose contributed to Hunter’s death. Pathologist Dr Burgess told the inquest she had been unable to ascertain a cause of death for Hunter as she was unsure of the contribution that the Clyndamycin had played. Saying she was “unable to exclude” the potential effect of the overdose, Dr Burgess said a probable cause of death for Hunter would be cardiac arrest caused by Group A streptococcus.

The inquest, set to continue into next week, continues.