A young mother died from sepsis after being neglected by NHS staff who gave her the wrong antibiotics, a coroner has ruled.
Aleisha Rochester, 33, a bank cashier from Croydon, died in August 2023, two weeks after undergoing a routine procedure to remove an abscess from her left armpit.
St Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust has apologised after Ms Rochester, who sought help several times for her worsening condition, was prescribed antibiotics that did not tackle the bacteria causing her infection.
They were also found to have not followed the NHS trust’s own guidelines on administering antibiotics and the inquest ruled that Ms Rochester would likely have lived if she had been given the correct antibiotics.
Ms Rochester was described as an “amazing mummy” to her son Xavier, who is now eight. Her mother Lorna said: “Aleisha was the most loving, caring and compassionate daughter you could wish for.
“The bond between Aleisha and Xavier was evident in every moment they spent together,” adding that “there’s a huge void in our family and the hardest thing to try and come to terms with is how she’ll never get to see Xavier grow up and celebrate milestones in life.
“We’ll make sure Xavier knows how much his mummy loved him and how proud she would be of him.”
Ms Rochester had skin disease hidradenitis suppurativa and had undergone a routine procedure at St Thomas’ Hospital on 5 August to remove abscesses from her left armpit and groin.
Less than a week later, she became unwell and the wound on her armpit became infected. On 13 August, she was prescribed a course of penicillin-based antibiotics at an out-of-hours GP appointment.
The next day she went to the A&E department at St Helier hospital and was given a dose of flucloxacillin intravenously before being sent home with a plan to return the following day.
On 16 August, another drug was given to Ms Rochester “which was in line with the hospital guidelines”, but she deteriorated and was admitted to intensive care on 17 August.
At that point, Ms Rochester was in septic shock and multiple organ failure, and there were signs of infection in her lungs.
The coroner said: “Despite a maximal antibiotics regime, intubation, ventilation and intensive medical support, Ms Rochester continued to deteriorate.
“She suffered a cardiac arrest in the early hours of the morning on the 19th of August, from which she could not be resuscitated.”
Dr Richard Jennings, group chief medical officer for St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals, said: “We know we failed Ms Rochester by not giving her the correct antibiotics, with tragic consequences – for this we are extremely sorry and offer our deepest apologies and condolences to her family.
“We sadly can’t put this right for Ms Rochester, but we would like to assure her family that we have learned from Ms Rochester’s death, and we have taken multiple steps to prevent this happening again.
“We are now giving further training to staff on the prompt recognition of sepsis, and have taken measures to make sure antibiotic prescribing is done correctly.”
Madeline Nugent, medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, representing the family, said: “The neglect finding means the coroner was satisfied that there was a gross failure to provide Aleisha with basic medical care.
“Through our work we continue to see too many families impacted by sepsis.
“While it’s too late for Aleisha and her family it’s now vital that lessons are learned from the failings that the inquest identified in her care.”
An NHS England spokesperson said: “The NHS extends its deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Aleisha Rochester.
“Since then we have rolled out Martha's Rule which is being increasingly used by patients, families and staff to better identify and respond to acute deterioration in patients, including sepsis, and this year we will be introducing a new national sepsis framework to identify interventions, standards and innovations that further improve treatment for patients.”
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