Overview
- A jury at Wakefield Coroner's Court concluded on Tuesday that five-month-old Esta High died of streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis and that neglect contributed to her death.
- The inquest found clinicians missed opportunities to test for a bacterial infection and to start antibiotics, and the jury said staff stuck with a Covid diagnosis after a positive test.
- Esta's parents told the court their repeated warnings were dismissed, that doctors advised them to take her home, and that she was untreated for about 55 hours before being found unrousable.
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, represented in court by solicitors, accepted there were missed opportunities, issued an apology through its chief medical officer, and said it will consider the coroner's report and recommendations.
- The case highlights how Covid-era infection control and diagnostic anchoring can delay urgent paediatric assessment and it leaves open questions about what safety and process changes the coroner will recommend and the trust will implement.