Death of girl, 14, with rare form of leukaemia 'could have been prevented'

The death of a 14-year-old girl who died from a rare form of laekumia was 'avoidable', a coroner has concluded. An inquest into the death of Katie Wilkins found that medical neglect was a contributing factor.

The Warrington school girl died on July 31, 2020. She tragically passed away after after suffering an intracranial haemorrhage as a result of her acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APML). She had no significant medical history and had fallen ill only a month previously.

As reported by the ECHO, her inquest at the Gerard Majella Courthouse in Bootle saw coroner Kate Ainge conclude that her death was avoidable. Ms Ainge said a proper clinical review and blood test could have led to an earlier diagnosis and the correct treatment.

READ MORE: Section of M61 fully shut after serious crash

The teenager’s symptoms began with unbearable pains when visiting her sister in London in June 2020. On June 30, she was taken to A&E in Warrington, where they found an unusual abscess and a course of antibiotics were prescribed.

The family were advised the healing process would take time and she was given a second course of antibiotics at a follow-up appointment on July 2.

Katie, who went to Bridgewater High School in Warrington, went to hospital five times and was in a lot of pain. She began to get shooting pains in places such as her abdomen which stopped her sleeping at night.

On July 14, Katie had made no improvement. She was given a PEW – a Paediatric Early Warning Score, used nationally to predict early deterioration – score of two, which was mistakenly recorded as one.

Ms Ainge said a higher score would have led to an escalation of care and four hourly observations should have been made. Katie was given a bed at Warrington’s