Second inquest into meningitis death was 'torture'

The brothers of a boy who died from meningitis have said going through a second inquest nearly 12 years after his death has been "torture".

Callum Hubbard, 14, from the Dronfield area of Derbyshire, died on 8 February 2014, three months after having ear surgery.

An inquest into his death, which concluded on 4 December, found decisions made by both paediatric and ear, nose and throat (ENT) departments at Chesterfield Royal Hospital "probably contributed to his death".

The hearing was the second inquest to look into Callum's death after the High Court ruled the first should be quashed after new evidence was presented.

Callum's brothers, Daniel, 27, and Jack, 29, said they have fought to have the second inquest heard for their brother on behalf of their dad, who died six years ago.

They said an initial inquest, held in 2018, found Callum died from a natural complication of the surgery he had, despite a hospital report stating doctors should not have stopped antibiotic treatment.

The family managed to get a court-ordered paediatric report into the boy's care, which was presented to the High Court in 2018.

Daniel said the conclusion of the first inquest was a "massive bombshell".

"We almost had to restart the grieving process again," he said.

"It was to the point where we no longer had an understanding of how Callum had died, because nobody could give us the same story.

"Our big criticism of the first inquest was the paediatric team at Chesterfield had such a massive part to play in Callum's care and ultimately death, but there was no witnesses or evidence from the paediatric team."

The brothers, also from Dronfield, said while they were not trying to bash the NHS, they wanted to make sure lessons were learned after Callum's death.

"It's been torture," Daniel said. "It's having to relive the worst thing that's ever happened to our family over and over again, each day.

"We love the NHS, but when things do go wrong, people need to be held accountable, whether that's within the hospital's own institution or on a bigger scale."

Following the first inquest, both Callum's mum and dad fought for a second hearing alongside his brothers.

Jack said the brothers were determined to continue the fight after his dad, who was "shouting the story from the rooftops", died.

"Dad passed away without having the justice for Callum, and that was a big thing for us," he said.

"I think it was such a big fight for him.

"He wouldn't give it up and we wouldn't be where we are today with this outcome, without dad and without the fight that he showed us."

The second inquest into Callum's death, held at Chesterfield Coroner's Court earlier this month, heard he was a "fit and healthy" teenager, but had a history of recurring ear infections "since a young age".

He was seen at the Chesterfield hospital on 5 November 2013 with an ear infection where he was referred for corrective surgery to a cholesteatoma - a tumour-like growth in his middle ear.

He was seen again on 14 November before being rushed to hospital by his parents days later.

Paediatric doctors, who suspected he had meningitis, gave him antibiotics before he was transferred to the ENT department.

He had surgery on his ear before his antibiotics were stopped and he was discharged.

At home, his condition worsened and he collapsed on 22 November.

He was taken by ambulance to hospital in Chesterfield, before being transferred to Sheffield Children's Hospital where he remained for three months until his death in February 2014.

Peter Nieto, senior coroner for Derbyshire, heard medics missed opportunities to review Callum's condition.

Jurors also believed a lack of communication and agreed clinical responsibility between the paediatric and ENT departments "probably contributed to his death".

The court also heard he "probably" would not have died if his antibiotics were not withdrawn.

Kevin Sargen, medical director at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We would wish to express our condolences to Callum's family - and we recognise that the time since Callum's death has been very difficult for them, including the last few days.

"We respect HM Coroner's findings and are grateful for his recognition for the improvements we have made since Callum's death.

"We continue to apply the learnings across our trust."

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