Brave baby girl dies of tummy bug as medics ignore 'dirty' catheter

A "brave" baby girl died of a tummy bug after medics “palmed off” her parents’ concerns over her “dirty” catheter, an inquest heard.

Experts said the contaminated tube could have left 19-month-old Sandie Seago with a common fungal infection that she was too weak to fight off.

Her mother Sarah tearfully said she and her husband were “looking out for our little girl” when they showed medics two photos they had taken of her “soiled” Hickman line.

She told Southwark Coroners Court: “We got palmed off. Everybody said no it’s okay, it’s fine.”

A coroner described the photos as showing “soiling” inside as medical experts disagreed over whether the tragic tot’s fungal infection could have originated in the tube.

Sandie, who was born with a rare liver condition and heart problems, was unable to fight off candida albicans - a common stomach bug.

She died on February 28 2020 after falling ill while waiting for a liver transplant following heart surgery at London’s King’s College Hospital.

Hospital experts disagreed over whether the tube, which was keeping her alive, could be to blame.

Assistant Coroner Sarah Valentine ruled that it was not possible to determine the origin of her infection.

Delivering a narrative conclusion, the coroner said: “In her very short life it was clear that she touched many lives.

“Despite her poor health she was a happy child and was recognised as being fun and smiling. All the clinical team were keen to see her.”

Sandie’s 360-page medical report added that she had also suffered from a number of other illnesses during her four-month stay in hospital.

The coroner said “stringent cleaning methods were imposed to try to reduce” Sandie’s risk of infections but added: “There were limited steps that could be taken to reduce those risks.

“She suffered bravely from multiple comorbidities.

“We have heard that she probably had an unidentified, underlying immune dysfunction which is likely to have contributed to her clearance… of infections despite appropriate and prompt treatment.”

The coroner said a blood test showed Sandie had the fungus in her blood in January 2020.

But it was only confirmed as an “infection” on February 18 after a sample was taken from her Hickman line.

Miss Valentine said: “There’s been much discussion of what this soiling is.

“We’ve heard evidence from Matron Murphy that this soiling shouldn’t have been present.”

But she added that Professor Baker and Dr D’Silva said it could have been from blood or drug deposits in the tube and that “they did not think this would give rise to an infection”.

She added the Hickman tube was inserted on January 26 and removed three days later.

“It is not clear or definitive that this soiling firstly, number one, did not cause any infection; or indeed if it did cause an infection that was later found to be in blood cultures of the 18th of February 2020,” said the coroner.

“The fungal infection in question was evident in her urine and other samples and therefore it’s not possible to determine the origin of the fungal infection.

“It’s just not possible for me to return on the balance of probabilities that there was a certainty that this was the primal cause of the fungal infection which led to sepsis. “We heard the use of the Hickman line was essential to enhance and prolong Sandie’s life.”

Mrs Seago, from Barking, east London, who took the photos on January 28 2020, told the inquest that she was upset with how a medic recorded their concerns over Sandie’s “dirty” line in her hospital notes.

While asking questions of hospital matron Kerry Murphy, she said: “It has made me and my husband look really bad in the notes and we were just looking out for our little girl.

“That’s played on my mind so much.”

Ms Murphy replied: “I am extremely sorry that is something you have had to read in the notes.”

She said the unnamed member of staff was having “additional development” but that she was “satisfied” with the medical care over Sandie’s line.

Ms Murphy added: “She was a friendly little girl and I would often stop for a wave and a cuddle.

“She was lovely so you would stop and talk to her quite often.”

Sandie’s medical cause of death was recorded as multiple organ failure caused by fungal sepsis, with contributing factors of end stage biliary atresia and cardiac failure due to complex congenital heart disease, which were both operated on.

The inquest last Wednesday heard that one in 16,000 babies are born with biliary atresia in the UK every year - the condition is a blockage in the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder.

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