A PRE-INQUEST hearing relating to the death of a nine-year-old who was sent home from hospital with ibuprofen, despite suffering from what later turned out to be a ruptured appendix - was held in Newport today.
The hearing regarding the death of Dylan Cope was held at Gwent Coroner's Court in Newport this afternoon.
Nine-year-old Dylan died on December 14, 2022, after being diagnosed with a ruptured appendix and sepsis.
While Caroline Saunders, senior coroner for Gwent, stressed that this was a pre-inquest review and she would not be hearing specific evidence today, she did provide an overview of events.
The coroner’s court heard that Dylan had been seen at the Grange University Hospital on December 6, 2022, and was discharged the next day.
He was then back in hospital on December 10 before being transferred to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, where he died on December 14.
The medical cause of death had been given as septic shock.
The court heard that concerns had been raised by Dylan’s parents over when he had been discharged. The family had also raised concerns over the response from the NHS 111 service.
The court heard there was some confusion regarding who had advised that Dylan could be discharged when he was. One report stated it was a female doctor, another that it was a male.
But the female doctor included in one of the reports as the person responsible for the discharge said in a report of her own that she had no recollection of this.
Ms Saunders said: “It may be the case that we can’t find this last person.”
Jo Moore, representing Dylan’s family, said it would be “illogical and irrational” for the inquest to say how Dylan died without identifying this clinician.
Ms Moore said that Dylan “could have been seen by someone who was unidentified and took no notes”. She said failing to identify this person would result in a “flawed inquest”.
Ms Saunders, however, said: “We will be making reasonable attempts to identify that person.
“If there comes a point that they can’t be, it won’t be a ‘flawed inquest’.
“It will go ahead as is reasonable and proportionate.”
Ms Saunders also noted that it was her intention to obtain a transcript of the NHS 111 call made by Dylan’s father.
Roughly 11 witnesses have been lined up to be called at the inquest, which has been scheduled to last three days.
Ms Saunders proposed the time period from March to July 2024 as potential dates for the inquest to be held.
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