A heartbroken mother whose daughter died of sepsis after a series of hospital failures has revealed nurses told the teenager her pain worsened when she started gasping for air.
Chloe Longster died in ‘excruciating pain’ less than 19 hours after being admitted to Kettering General Hospital, Northamptonshire, in 2022 following a diagnosis of pneumonia.
An inquest into the girl’s death found that neglect and a series of hospital failures had contributed to her death.
Chloe’s mother Louise Longster today claimed a nurse told her daughter to ‘calm down’ and ‘made her pain worse’ as she suffered shortness of breath and started wheezing.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Mrs Longster also revealed that her daughter turned to her at one point and asked: ‘Am I going to die?’.
Chloe Longster died in ‘excruciating pain’ less than 19 hours after being admitted to Kettering General Hospital, Northamptonshire, in 2022 following a diagnosis of pneumonia
Chloe’s mother Louise Longster told Good Morning Britain that a nurse told her daughter to ‘calm down’
Chloe Longster, 13, from Market Harborough, Leicestershire, is pictured with her mother Louise
She told the ITV show: ‘She was in the children’s ward and wasn’t in that much pain. But when she said that, I remember thinking that she really felt like crap. Did I think she was going to die at that moment? Absolutely not.
‘If she was in pain, a nurse would tell her to calm down. That was when she was gasping and the nurse came and sternly told her that she was making her pain worse and that she needed to breathe properly.”
When asked by presenter Richard Madeley if she felt the nurse was telling Chloe she was ‘making her pain worse’, Ms Longster added: ‘It felt that way.’
Chloe was a “healthy” teenager who was “full of energy” until she was admitted to the pediatric emergency department with severe pain in her lower ribs and cold symptoms.
The teenager, a ‘cherished’ IVF baby and avid dancer, had suffered from a cough the weekend prior to her death but was healthy enough to attend a sleepover.
Chloe, from Market Harborough, Leicestershire, also had mild asthma and used inhalers but had never had an asthma attack, according to her parents.
Last week an inquest heard that Chloe was in so much pain that she could no longer walk and had to be taken to hospital in a wheelchair by her brother.
Despite the young girl’s condition, Mrs Longster said she felt she had to “convince” hospital staff of how ill her daughter was.
She told GMB: “I think everyone could see it wasn’t right. When we were sent to the X-ray department around 3:00 in the afternoon, a teenager offered her a seat in front of her if she was called earlier. ‘
Mrs Longster said she repeatedly asked doctors for help but was treated like a ‘mother who had been on Google’ while her daughter was dismissed as a ‘diva teenager’
Chloe was diagnosed with pneumonia and died less than 19 hours after being admitted to the ward
The 13-year-old was admitted to a pediatric ward at Kettering General Hospital after experiencing severe lower back pain and cold symptoms (a general view from Kettering General Hospital)
Mrs Longster has claimed she was not informed of sepsis screening and said pain relief for her daughter was ‘delayed’ as the child was treated with ‘contempt’ in the final hours of her life.
The 40-year-old added that her daughter was never given an identification bracelet
Today she explained: ‘I think what we learned at the inquest was that sepsis was being screened for, but in a haphazard way. It was terrifying.’
The now completed investigation revealed that on arrival at hospital, Chloe was triaged and placed in a side room before being given oral Oramorph for her pain.
The teen had a cannula inserted, but it fell out while she was still in the emergency room, and her mother and brother later had to take her to the X-ray themselves.
Mrs Longster said last week she saw the X-ray and noticed she thought it was a growth at the bottom of Chloe’s lung.
When she returned to the emergency department, the mother was told that Chloe had a respiratory infection.
A doctor prescribed antibiotics and she received one dose before being admitted to the Skylark ward.
In the pediatric ward, Ms. Longster said she had to repeatedly ask doctors for more pain relief for her daughter.
“I remember saying it feels like we’re chasing her pain and not getting over it,” she said.
When the nurse returned to observe Chloe further, she realized her oxygen levels had dropped, with Mrs Longster commenting: ‘They initially thought the machine was broken.’
“During Chloe’s last 18 hours on this earth, she was in pain and treated with contempt,” her mother told the inquest.
Chloe Longster (pictured), 13, died of sepsis following delays in her care after being dismissed by staff as a ‘dramatic teenager’, an inquest heard
Chloe was moved to a side room, with Ms Longster told that this was because she had tested positive for influenza A, the inquest heard.
A counselor was called and more and more people came into Chloe’s room.
Mrs Longster said: ‘I asked a nurse if she would be okay but the nurse said she didn’t know.
‘I don’t know how I got out of the room, but I just remember falling to the floor and collapsing there.
‘It felt like Chloe wasn’t taken seriously until that moment about how sick she was.
Ms Longster said she got the impression that nurses thought Chloe was being ‘dramatic’.
“I still think there were preconceived notions,” she said. “Chloe asked to bring her duvet, but I thought that would just overdo the diva teen thing.”
Chloe’s parents, Dave and Louise Longster, have said they want to see real change following her death.
Speaking about her last conversation with Chloe this morning, Mrs Longster said: ‘It was just before they were going to hatch her and I told her everything was going to be fine and when she comes over we’ll take her dad’s credit card and go shopping.’
The inquest concluded yesterday that Chloe might have survived if she had received treatment earlier (File image from Kettering General Hospital)
Assistant coroner Sophie Lomas concluded at Northampton District Court yesterday that Chloe might have survived had she been treated earlier.
“There were several missed opportunities to acknowledge Chloe’s deteriorating condition,” she said.
‘The trust recognized these missed opportunities and stated that there were shortcomings in care, both medical and nursing.’
‘On balance, I accept that Chloe’s condition, had it been identified earlier, could have been managed and changed the outcome.
‘Her death was caused by neglect. Opportunities to recognize and respond to her deteriorating condition were repeatedly missed.”