Family's anger at girl's hospital death inquest

The parents of a girl who died of a stroke in hospital said they could not accept a coroner's finding that earlier treatment would not have saved her.

Victoria Olabode, 12, who had sickle cell disease, died at Manchester Children's Hospital in 2019.

There were angry scenes in the court in Manchester earlier when the coroner, Zak Golombek, gave his finding.

Police briefly removed Victoria's parents before the inquest resumed.

Victoria had sickle cell anaemia, a disease that primarily affects people of African and Caribbean heritage, and was admitted to Manchester Children's Hospital in July 2019 with chest pain and breathing difficulties.

In 2020, the hospital admitted in a report that a three-day delay in giving Victoria a scan contributed to her death.

There was an "ongoing fixation on the perception that Victoria was having a painful sickle cell crisis" and her ongoing headaches were not escalated by junior doctors, it added.

"We accept that as a result of the delay in carrying out imaging there was a delay which contributed to Victoria's death from stroke and we are very sorry for this," the hospital said in the report.

Coroner Mr Golombek said there "was insufficient evidence to show Victoria would have avoided [the stroke]" if a scan had taken place earlier.

He said: "None of the failings more than minimally contributed to her death."

Mrs Olabode shouted at court staff and knocked water jugs from desks, prompting the police to intervene.

The inquest resumed more than an hour after the disturbance.

Mrs Olabode had not returned.

A spokesman in Greater Manchester Police said one man at the inquest was "de-arrested", while a woman was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence.

Outside the court, Mr Olabode said the family would continue their fight for what they see as justice for their daughter.

Ms Toli Onon, who is joint chief medical officer at Manchester University NHS Trust, said: "We wish again to extend our condolences and deepest sympathies to Victoria's family.

"The Trust has undertaken a thorough investigation to examine the circumstances following Victoria's very sad death nearly five years ago, and we apologise again for where our care has fallen short of the high standards to which we aspire.

"The Trust is grateful to the Coroner for the care and diligence he has taken in relation to this Inquest, which concluded today with a conclusion of natural causes.

"We have taken steps to ensure the learning from Victoria's death has been shared within the Trust."

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