Inquest finds neglect contributed to death of Esther Alina High
An inquest has found that neglect contributed to the death of five-year-old Esther Alina High at Leeds General Infirmary, and the hospital trust has apologised for serious failures in her care.
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An inquest has concluded that neglect contributed to the death of five-year-old Esther Alina High at Leeds General Infirmary in November 2023. The coroner said Esther probably would have survived if she had received adequate care. Her parents, Leon and Lindsey, said their concerns were dismissed by medics.
Esther was taken to A&E with a fever and vomiting. She was diagnosed with Covid-19 and placed in a side room on the children's assessment and treatment unit. Her parents raised concerns about her rising temperature and heart rate, but the inquest heard those concerns were missed as doctors tried to discharge them twice. At one point her temperature reached 40.1C and her heart rate was 198 beats per minute. She was lethargic and not feeding, and her parents said she could not wee.
After two nights in hospital, Esther's condition worsened. She began having seizures and was admitted to intensive care. Tests detected Streptococcus pneumoniae, which led to infections that caused brain damage and multiple organ failure. Close family were present when life support was turned off.
The inquest examined the quality of Esther's care, with particular focus on her first 55 hours in hospital. Questions included whether she should have had a blood test earlier, why she was not given antibiotics during that period, and what more could have been done to take her parents' concerns into account. Her parents said the Covid-19 diagnosis appeared to blind clinicians to the seriousness of the bacterial infection. They said Streptococcus pneumoniae is treatable with antibiotics three times a day if caught early enough.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said it was deeply sorry and had failed Esther and her family. It offered sincere and heartfelt condolences to Lindsey and Leon. The trust said it fully respected the jury's findings and the coroner's decision to issue a regulation 28 prevention of future deaths report. It recognised that serious failures occurred in Esther's care and had devastating consequences. It said it would carefully consider the report's findings and recommendations and respond openly and fully.
Esther's parents hope her case leads to wider change, including a possible inquiry into paediatric care at Leeds General Infirmary. They said an inquiry into maternity failures at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust is already under way, and other maternity units across the country have faced scrutiny in recent years. They want Esther to be remembered as their beautiful, happy baby, who was loved and wanted and had a full life to live.
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Key Claims
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| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| An inquest found that neglect contributed to the death of five-year-old Esther Alina High at Leeds General Infirmary in November 2023. | |
| Esther was diagnosed with Covid-19 at Leeds General Infirmary. | |
| Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said it was deeply sorry and had failed Esther and her family, recognised serious failures, respected the jury's findings and the coroner's regulation 28 report, and said it would consider recommendations and act to improve patient safety. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News led on the inquest finding and the parents' account of missed warnings, with a long family-led report. It gave substantial space to the family's grief and their call for a wider paediatric care inquiry, then closed with the trust's apology and statement. The tone was sympathetic to the parents and focused on whether Esther's death could have been prevented.
- “there's no words that can describe it”
- “please don't let my baby die”
- “we are deeply sorry but we failed esther and her family”
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