Family's anger as coroner rules hospital failings 'minimally' contributed to ... trends now
Furious parents were escorted from an inquest by police amid angry scenes after a coroner found a hospital's failure to carry out a brain scan may not have caused their daughter's death.
Victoria Olabode, 12, died after suffering a stroke in hospital brought on by sickle cell disease in 2019, with her family waiting nearly five years for the inquest.
In an internal report in 2020, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital admitted that a three-day delay in giving Victoria a scan contributed to her death.
But when coroner, Zak Golombeck, gave his finding that earlier treatment may not have saved her, Victoria's mother Elizabeth shouted and knocked water jugs from desks and her father Victor joined the loud protest.
Mr Golombeck told Manchester Coroner's Court there 'was insufficient evidence to show Victoria would have avoided [the stroke]' had she received an earlier scan.
Victoria Olabode, 12, died after suffering a stroke in hospital brought on by sickle cell disease in 2019
He said: 'None of the failings more than minimally contributed to her death.'
Police removed an emotional Mr and Mrs Olabode – who had begged clinicians to give her daughter a brain scan for three days before the stroke was eventually found. The inquest resumed over an hour after the disturbance and Mr Olabode was allowed back in.
Described by loved ones as a 'beautiful girl who would light up a whole room', Victoria died at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital on July 15, 2019.
The schoolgirl, who had Sickle Cell Disease, had been transferred there from North Manchester General Hospital 13 days earlier, the inquest heard.On July 5, three days after her admission, had suddenly developed a 'severe' headache and began vomiting.
She was treated for her pain but her mother had 'persistently' asked for a CT scan to be carried out - which was not done until July 8, when Victoria suffered a 'prolonged seizure.'She suffered a second seizure later that day and was afterwards admitted to the hospital's paediatric intensive care unit where radiology confirmed she had suffered an ischaemic brain injury.
After she was found to be brain stem dead, on July 15, her ventilation was withdrawn leading to her death.The inquest heard six days of evidence in December last year and February this year.
Expert witness Professor Fenella Kirkham told the hearing: 'If the diagnosis had been made between the evening of July 5 and the early hours of July 8, then I think appropriate preventative strategies as I have set out in the report would have meant that on the balance of probabilities, Victoria wouldn't have died.'
In his conclusion this morning, Mr Golombeck said he found it was a 'failure' that a CT or MRI scan was not carried out on July 5 or 6 'when it was clear that Victoria was suffering serious neurological symptomatology.'
He said: 'Victoria was in sickle crisis, and it was imperative for a neurological event to be excluded by neurological examination and imaging.
'A CT scan was warranted, and whilst it was appropriate for the clinicians to address Victoria's pain, her pain and a potential neurological event were not mutually exclusive.'However, he said that had a scan or scans been carried out at that time, it 'would not have conclusively confirmed subarachnoid blood', the medical term for a type of stroke caused by bleeding on the surface of the brain, as the scans carried out two days later didn't do so either.
He described the protocol for the MRI scan that was carried out as 'sub-optimal' and said that 'this too was a failure in the care.'But Mr Golombek added: 'On the balance of the evidence
