Second inquest begins into teen's meningitis death

An inquest has heard a "kind-hearted and caring" teenager was admitted to hospital with a suspected ear infection but later died from meningitis.

Callum Hubbard, 14, died on 8 February 2014 at Sheffield Children's Hospital after being transferred from Chesterfield Royal Hospital in November 2013.

The first inquest into his death was held in 2018, but at the family's request, the High Court ruled a fresh inquest should explore the circumstances surrounding his treatment.

On Monday, senior coroner for Derbyshire, Peter Nieto, told the jury at Chesterfield Town Hall they would need to consider if a decision had not been made to stop a course of antibiotics whether Callum would still be alive.

Callum had a passion for football, his brother Daniel told the jury, and as a "fast technical winger with a mean left foot" had been due to have a trial with the team he supported, Sheffield United, before his illness.

The number 7 shirt he wore was retired following his death by the club he played for, he added.

Off the pitch, he said Callum's "long-hair covered a shy face" and since a young age had suffered repeated ear infections, affecting his hearing.

It was these recurring infections which saw him referred by his GP to the ear, nose and throat department at Chesterfield from 2011.

A perforated eardrum was diagnosed, which required a three-month follow-up appointment to see if this was healing.

Mr Nieto said "for whatever reason this did not take place".

On 5 November 2013, a visit to the hospital with an infection in his left ear saw him referred for corrective surgery to a cholesteatoma - a tumour-like growth in his middle ear - the following February.

In a statement read to the court by Mr Nieto, Callum's mother Anne Hubbard said the consultant Alagappan Chidambaram "seemed quite relaxed" about the three-and-a-half month wait and there was no discussion of any risk of meningitis from his condition.

"Had I been told that we should look out for signs of meningitis, then I would have done so," said Mrs Hubbard.

Giving evidence, Mr Chidambaram said the surgery "would have been sooner if I had any concerns about Callum" and discussions with patients would usually include advice on potential complications.

But after Callum, from the Dronfield area of Derbyshire, complained of a stiff neck and headaches, and had been struggling to eat and drink, his parents tried to have him seen again, the inquest heard.

While in the waiting room for an emergency ear, nose and throat appointment on 14 November, Callum suffered a "foul-smelling discharge" from his ear, but he was told to return in four days for a CT scan behind his ear ahead of his planned operation.

Dr Mathew Kurian gave evidence via video-link to say while he "wished the outcome had been different", at this appointment there were "no signs saying this was a complication of the cholesteatoma" and that his symptoms were "getting better".

But before the scan, feeling ill, Callum was taken by his parents to the emergency department, where doctors suspected meningitis and put him on antibiotics, which saw his condition improve overnight.

The following day, Callum's surgery was brought forward and carried out.

He was then discharged, with a decision made to stop his antibiotics.

At home, his condition worsened over the next few days, and after slumping in the car while his dad was shopping in a supermarket, he was taken to hospital by ambulance in an "unresponsive" state, according to a statement from his late father Neil, which was read to the court.

After waiting "slumped in a high-backed wheelchair" an hour to be triaged, he was seen and later discharged on 19 November.

On 22 November he was admitted to Chesterfield Royal Hospital after his condition worsened again and then taken by ambulance to Sheffield the same day with suspected meningitis.

Mrs Hubbard's statement said she heard the ambulance driver call ahead "to make sure there was a clear path" and Callum was met by two neurosurgeons at the hospital door and taken straight to theatre.

Callum never regained consciousness, the inquest was told, and remained in the care of Sheffield Children's Hospital until a decision was taken in February that there was no treatment that could be given.

The inquest continues.

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