Teddy Woodhouse: Medics Dismissed Our Baby’s Fever Before Meningitis
Paramedics who attended seven-week-old Teddy Woodhouse did not recognize the seriousness of his condition or take him to hospital, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust admitted. Teddy later suffered seizures and brain damage. His parents’ account is now used to train paramedics, and child-temperature alerts have been added to their iPads.
The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust admitted that paramedics failed to recognize seven-week-old Teddy Woodhouse’s condition and take him to hospital after responding to his family’s call in Cambridgeshire on November 28, 2021. His parents said medics dismissed our baby’s fever, and Teddy later suffered seizures and a severe brain injury after developing meningitis and sepsis.
The first visit ended at home. Teddy’s temperature had risen above 40C, and he had stopped feeding, but paramedics encouraged him to feed, brought his temperature down slightly and advised his parents, Kara and Chris, to give him half a spoonful of Calpol.
His heart rate was “very fast,” and his temperature remained at 39C. His parents cared for him through the night.
By the next morning, Teddy’s temperature had fallen to around 35C and his skin looked “completely translucent,” Kara Woodhouse said. He was barely waking or moving, so the family called for an ambulance again.
A first responder told them to take Teddy straight to hospital. There, “10 to 15” doctors were waiting to treat him, his parents said.
Doctors resuscitated Teddy three times. He was diagnosed with life-threatening sepsis and meningitis and suffered repeated seizures, some lasting as long as two-and-a-half hours, according to his parents’ account.
Teddy sustained brain damage from the seizures. He is profoundly deaf and began walking at four years old. He spent three weeks in hospital before his parents took him home.
“There were so many red flags that were missed that shouldn’t have been missed,” Kara Woodhouse said. “We don’t want the same situation to happen to somebody else.”
The couple said they were told that earlier hospital treatment would have prevented Teddy from contracting meningitis. Chris Woodhouse recalled blaming himself for not taking his son to hospital the previous evening.
The parents instructed medical negligence solicitors from Penningtons Manches Cooper. The trust admitted last year that its paramedics had failed to recognize the significance of Teddy’s condition and take appropriate action.
The Woodhouses recorded a training video for the ambulance service, which is now used to train paramedics across the country. Paramedics’ iPads have also been programmed to direct them to take a child to hospital when they enter a temperature that is too high.
Now five, Teddy is “the happiest child you could imagine,” his parents said.
