Coco Bradford inquest: Six-year-old died of sepsis after medics made ...

A young autistic girl who died of sepsis after a 'catalogue' of errors by medics was 'blamed' by hospital staff for being 'uncooperative', her heartbroken mother today told an inquest.

Coco Bradford's died in hospital in July 2017 after receiving treatment at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.

A previous independent report criticised the hospital and revealed that doctors and consultants had missed 'several opportunities' to save the six-year-old's life.

This included failing to order basic blood and stool samples or offering Coco, who was admitted with vomiting and diarrhoea, a simple course of intravenous fluids to rehydrate her. 

Today, at an inquest into Coco's death, her mother Rachel Bradford said staff at the hospital had 'unforgivably' tried to cover up their own failings by blaming her daughter's autism.

She said medics had also claimed her daughter, who had autism, was being difficult to treat.

Mrs Bradford today told senior Cornwall coroner Andrew Cox that her family were treated with the 'utmost contempt'. 

Worried Rachel and husband Luke initially rushed Coco to Royal Cornwall Hospital, known as Treliske hospital, on July 24, 2017, with vomiting and diarrhoea.

But they but were sent home from the emergency department after being told she likely had Gastroenteritis.

She continued to pass liquid and bloody stools and could not hold down any fluids so was rushed back less than a day later.

The inquest heard upon admission, doctors still felt her condition was not serious despite the family pleading for more to be done.

Her condition continued to deteriorate and she was transferred from the Treliske days after admission to the Bristol Children's Hospital - where she died of multiple organ failure caused by sepsis and e.coli. 

Mrs Bradford, of St Ives, Cornwall, told the coroner today she has fought for four years ever since to expose the truth and failings around her daughter's death at Treliske. 

Fighting back tears, she said they discovered medical staff had 'multiple opportunities to change the course of Coco's treatment that could have saved her life.' 

She added: 'None were acted upon. We do not accept human error should be a factor. This was failing of the most basic level of care.

'Every member of staff denied knowledge of bloody vomit and faeces yet it is in all notes.

'There were notes blaming Coco for being uncooperative. She was in a terrible amount of pain and dying in front of their eyes.'