Manchester hospital scan delay 'contributed to girl's stroke death'

A three-day delay in giving a 12-year-old girl a CT scan contributed to her stroke death, a hospital has admitted.

Victoria Olabode, who had sickle cell disease, was admitted to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in July with chest pain and breathing issues.

In a report, the hospital said junior staff working that weekend failed to recognise signs of a stroke. Her family have vowed to "fight for justice".

The hospital said it was "committed to ensuring that lessons are learned".

Sickle cell anaemia is a lifelong health condition that predominantly affects people from African or Caribbean backgrounds and is one of the most common causes of stroke in children.

Because sickle cells are less flexible than normal red blood cells, they can get stuck in blood vessels. If this happens in the brain, it can result in a stroke.

In its report, the hospital, which is managed by the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, said Victoria was admitted on Tuesday 2 July.

On Friday evening, she was being sick repeatedly and developed a severe headache - symptoms which the hospital report said were consistent with a stroke.

By 23.10 BST, Victoria was "screaming with pain" the report said, crying out, "Mummy, I have a headache".

Victoria's mother Elizabeth Olabode raised ongoing concerns and requested a scan but this was "inappropriately dismissed", the report found.

At the time, an on-call consultant suggested that if Victoria's condition did not improve by the next day, a scan should be undertaken but this did not take place until after the weekend, three days later.

There was an "ongoing fixation on the perception that Victoria was having a painful sickle cell crisis", said the report, and her ongoing headaches were not escalated by the junior doctors, leading to a 72-hour delay in recognition of her stroke.

The hospital's investigation concluded: "We accept that as a result of the delay in carrying out imaging, there was a delay in the exchange transfusion taking place, which contributed to Victoria's death from stroke and we are very sorry for this."

A hospital spokesperson said it had "undertaken a thorough proactive investigation" following Victoria's death, adding it was "committed to ensuring that lessons are learned as we go through this process to improve patient care".

Her father Victor Olabode said: "The only thing we want now is justice."

Victoria's mother Elizabeth said: "She was such a beautiful girl - she was an angel."

She said her daughter, who has a twin brother, Victor, had wanted to train to help children with sickle cell disease and the family are planning to set up a charity, The Victoria Olabode Foundation, to raise awareness of the condition.

"The legacy must go on," she added.