Pippa White inquest: Doctor admits crucial oversight before little girl died from sepsis at Orange Base Hospital

A doctor who treated a toddler before she died from sepsis has admitted he overlooked crucial steps as the girl’s health deteriorated at a regional hospital in NSW.

Pippa Mae White passed away shortly before her third birthday at Orange Base Hospital after suffering two cardiac arrests on June 13, 2022.

The day before, the child had been admitted to the hospital after falling ill with fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Tests showed that the child had pneumonia. X-rays showed that her left lung was completely white.

As the inquest into the toddler’s death continued on Tuesday, Dr Christopher Morris was questioned about the steps 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 toddler’s treatment earlier when her heart rate rose to what is medically known as the ‘red zone’.

Pippa was also groaning and her breathing sounded ‘crackling’, indicating abdominal pain.

Video footage was shown at Lidcombe Crown Court of the two-year-old girl grunting as she tried to breathe.

In one of them her head rested on her mother Annah’s shoulder.

Medical assistant Christopher Morris told the court it was a ‘mistake’ not to request a ‘swift response’ (pictured Pippa, bottom left, with her parents and five siblings)

Dr. Morris said he ordered blood tests rather than let the matter escalate. He wanted to proceed carefully and have more information at hand when he discussed the matter with his superiors.

“It was a mistake not to deploy a rapid response,” he told the court.

He said this was an error in judgment and not a conscious decision.

Dr Morris said he spoke to paediatrician Dr Adam Buckmaster about Pippa when she showed signs of sepsis and that he put together a plan to treat her with antibiotics and fluids, and that blood tests were done to monitor her progress.

Sepsis is the body’s response to an infection, which damages internal tissues and organs.

Although Dr. Morris said he saw the toddler’s left lung and signs of infection on the X-ray screen, he did not immediately alert Dr. Buckmaster.

Fearing he might make a mistake by basing his diagnosis on a low-resolution image, Dr. Morris waited to take the actual X-ray until after the machine had been turned off and wheeled out of the ward.

A few hours later, Dr. Buckmaster arrived at the hospital and took over the toddler’s treatment.

Pippa (pictured sitting on her brother Bodhi’s lap) would have turned five next month if she were alive today

Dr Morris struggled to speak and his emotions got the better of him. He said he did not feel his diagnosis of Pippa could have anything to do with an earlier assessment that she had a viral infection.

“I didn’t feel like I had closed my mind to the idea that this was just one thing,” he said.

‘I didn’t feel anchored, but I clearly made an error in judgment.

“If I had my time again, I would do anything to make different decisions.”

As the doctor testified, Pippa’s mother, father, siblings, extended family and other supporters gathered in the courtroom, dressed in her favourite colour, yellow.

Across the courtroom, from her family, was a large portrait of the child in a yellow dress, running through a field of yellow flowers, surrounded by butterflies.

During cross-examination by Richard O’Keefe SC, representing Pippa’s parents Annah and Brock, Dr Morris also admitted that he may have been tired at the time he examined Pippa as he had worked a full shift and was on call at the time.

The Orange Hospital schedule was changed after the toddler’s death, with Dr Morris concluding that this was in response to the tragedy.

During the inquest, Deputy Coroner Joan Baptie will assess whether the treatment and care Pippa received at Cowra and Orange hospitals was adequate and appropriate.

She will be asked to consider whether recommendations can be made to prevent similar deaths in the future.

The hearing will continue on Wednesday.