Sepsis death: Lance Garcia, 11, sent home with painkillers Published duration 13 September 2019

image copyright HANDOUT image caption Lance Garcia had hurt his ankle dancing at home

A hospital trust "missed opportunities" to spot sepsis in a boy they discharged with painkillers, and later died.

Lance Garcia, 11, from Slough, went to Wexham Park Hospital twice in two days in July 2016, but doctors sent him home believing he had a soft tissue injury.

But Lance's condition deteriorated and he was diagnosed with life-threatening condition sepsis, which killed him.

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust said it had made "significant progress" in treating sepsis since 2016.

Sepsis happens when the immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage the body.

A Serious Incident Report by the trust found the "root cause" of Lance's death was "failure" to ensure he was reviewed by a senior doctor on his second hospital visit.

It added this may have led to screening for sepsis.

image copyright HANDOUT image caption Lance's parents and brother celebrated his 12th birthday after his death

The schoolboy had hurt his right ankle dancing at home on 27 July 2016, before he was taken to Wexham Park Hospital the next morning when pain worsened.

He was diagnosed with a soft tissue injury and discharged with ibuprofen.

On a second visit on 29 July, Lance's condition had worsened including severe pain across his right leg. But despite concerns from his parents - who are nurses - he was given paracetamol and discharged on 30 July.

Lance deteriorated and admitted to hospital on 31 July. He died a day later.

image copyright HANDOUT image caption Lance's family said his death was unacceptable

Lance's Dad Arnel Garcia said: "For there to be so many missed opportunities to help Lance is unacceptable.

"We feel that if just one of those opportunities was acted upon then our son would still be with us."

Frimley Health said: "Following Lance's tragic death we carried out a thorough investigation to make sure that all the learning from this case was shared promptly.

"We use the National Early Warning Score as recommended by NHS England to screen patients for sepsis and have a wide range of education and training programmes for staff."