A doctor who treated a little girl before she died of sepsis has admitted he overlooked crucial steps as the child’s health deteriorated in a regional New South Wales hospital.
Pippa Mae White died shortly before her third birthday at Orange Base Hospital after suffering two cardiac arrests on June 13, 2022.
She was admitted to hospital a day earlier after feeling unwell with fever, vomiting and diarrhoea; tests revealed the girl had pneumonia and X-rays showed a complete white spot on her left lung.
As the inquest into the girl’s death continued on Tuesday, Dr Christopher Morris was questioned about the measures taken to treat Pippa on June 12 and in the early hours of June 13.
The junior doctor said he should have stepped up the girl’s care sooner than he did when her heart rate rose into what is medically called the “red zone.”
Pippa was also grunting and making crackling sounds when breathing, showing signs of abdominal pain.
Lidcombe Coroner’s Court was shown videos of the two-year-old grunting as she breathed.
In one of them, she had her head resting on her mother Annah’s shoulder.
Pippa Mae White (pictured with her mother) died at Orange Base Hospital on 13 June 2022
Senior doctor Christopher Morris told the court it was “oversight” not to have called a “rapid response service” (pictured, Pippa, bottom left, with her parents and five siblings).
Dr. Morris said he ordered blood tests instead of escalating the case because he wanted to be diligent and have more information at hand when he discussed the case with his superiors.
“It was an oversight not to call for a rapid response,” he told the court.
He said this was an error in judgment and not a deliberate decision.
Dr. Morris said he spoke to pediatrician Dr. Adam Buckmaster about Pippa when she was showing signs of sepsis and formulated a plan to treat her with antibiotics and fluids, and run blood tests to monitor her progress.
Sepsis is when the body’s response to an infection begins to damage its internal tissues and organs.
Although Dr. Morris said he saw the boy’s left lung and signs of infection on the radiologist’s screen when he had an X-ray, he did not immediately notify Dr. Buckmaster.
Fearful of making a mistake by basing his diagnosis on a low-resolution image, Dr. Morris said he waited to get the actual X-ray after the machine was turned off and she was wheeled out of the room.
Dr. Buckmaster arrived at the hospital hours later and took over the boy’s treatment.
Pippa (pictured sitting on her brother Bodhi’s lap) would have turned five next month if she were still alive today.
Dr Morris, struggling to speak as emotions took over, said he did not feel his diagnosis of Pippa could have been based on an earlier assessment that she was experiencing a viral infection.
“I didn’t feel like I had closed my mind to the idea that this was just one thing,” she said.
‘I didn’t feel anchored but I clearly made an error in judgment.
“If I could go back, I would definitely do anything to make different decisions.”
As the doctor gave evidence, Pippa’s mother, father, siblings, extended family and other supporters gathered in the courtroom wearing her favourite colour, yellow.
On the opposite side of the courtroom, facing her family, was a large portrait of the girl, wearing a yellow dress and running through a field of yellow flowers surrounded by butterflies.
Under questioning by Richard O’Keefe SC, representing Pippa’s parents Annah and Brock, Dr Morris also accepted that he may have been fatigued at the time after working a full shift and then being on call at the time he was examining Pippa.
The staff at Orange Hospital changed after the boy’s death, which Dr. Morris deduced was in response to the tragedy.
At the inquest, Deputy State Coroner Joan Baptie will consider whether the treatment and care provided to Pippa at Cowra and Orange Hospitals was fit and appropriate.
You will be asked to consider whether recommendations can be made to prevent similar deaths in the future.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
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