Paediatric medico-legal reports

Paediatric Sepsis and Failure to Recognise Deterioration

These claims turn on whether a child’s deterioration was recognised and acted on in time. We provide paediatric expert reports on sepsis and the failure to recognise a deteriorating child, addressing the standard of care, causation and outcome. You see the expert’s CV before you instruct. The report is written to the expert’s CPR Part 35 duty to the court. We act for instructing solicitors on either side.

  • Same-working-day quotation
  • CVs before you instruct
  • An expert allocated within 48 hours
Claim contextClinical negligence proceedings and inquests
Central questionsWas deterioration recognised and escalated in time
ReportsLiability and breach, causation, condition and prognosis
ExpertsPaediatrics, neonatology, neurology, psychology

Overview

What sepsis means in a claim

Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming response to infection. In children it can progress quickly, and many claims turn on whether the warning signs of deterioration were recognised and escalated.

Paediatric observation charts of the kind reviewed when assessing whether deterioration was recognised and escalated
Recognition and escalation are assessed from the observation charts and medical records alongside the treatment timeline.

Reports we produce

The reports a sepsis claim relies on

Experts who assess it

The specialists on a sepsis claim

Consultant paediatricians address recognition and escalation; a neonatologist addresses neonatal sepsis; a paediatric neurologist and a child psychologist address any neurological or cognitive sequelae.

Case-type context

Where these claims sit

These claims sit in clinical negligence proceedings, and sometimes alongside an inquest into how the illness came about.

Consultant paediatrician reviewing observation charts and medical records for an independent report
Every report is written to the expert’s CPR Part 35 duty to the court, for instructing solicitors on either side.

FAQ

Sepsis claims: common questions

Yes, on whether the signs were recognised and escalated in time, and the effect of any delay.

Yes, this is a core theme in paediatric negligence, and our consultants report on it independently.

Yes, a neonatologist addresses infection in the newborn period.

Yes. Where the parties agree, our experts can act as a single joint expert; otherwise as a party-appointed expert. Either way, the duty is to the court.

Within 48 hours of your enquiry, with the CV sent for review before you instruct.

Sepsis claims

Instructing on a paediatric sepsis claim?

Send your case details and we will allocate a paediatric expert within 48 hours, with a same-working-day quotation and the CV before you instruct.