Ambulance Service Admits Failure After Seven-Week-Old Boy Left With Severe Brain Injury
The East of England Ambulance Service admits paramedics failed to recognize meningitis signs in baby Teddy Woodhouse, leading to a life-threatening brain inj...
POLICY WIRE — Cambridgeshire, UK — The parents of Teddy Woodhouse are describing a harrowing ordeal after medical responders allegedly ignored critical symptoms of meningitis while he was just seven weeks old.
On November 28, 2021, the infant’s temperature spiked to a dangerous level above 40C, and he refused to feed. His concerned parents, Kara and Chris Woodhouse, contacted emergency services via 999. An ambulance arrived at their Cambridgeshire residence shortly after.
Despite the baby exhibiting a rapid heart rate and a fever of 39C, the paramedics opted not to transport him to the hospital. Instead, they advised the parents to administer half a spoonful of Calpol at home.
The Woodhouses followed these instructions through the night, but discovered the following morning that Teddy’s condition had deteriorated drastically. His skin appeared translucent, and his body temperature had fallen to approximately 35C.
The boy was finally rushed to medical care, where he underwent three separate resuscitations and suffered from several hours of continuous seizures. Doctors ultimately diagnosed him with life-threatening sepsis and meningitis.
Years after the incident, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust has acknowledged that the attending paramedics failed to understand the severity of the boy’s condition or the necessity for immediate hospital admission.
Kara Woodhouse, 32, recalled that the initial dose of Calpol seemed to briefly improve his mood, but he remained not entirely himself. She noted that the next day his health collapsed again as he could barely move or wake up.
Upon calling the ambulance again, a second responder finally directed them to the hospital, where Teddy was met by a team of ten doctors waiting to begin emergency treatment.
The child endured seizures lasting two and a half hours each. As a consequence of the delay, Teddy sustained permanent brain damage and is now profoundly deaf and did not learn to walk until he was four years old.
Chris Woodhouse shared that a neurologist informed him an MRI scan proved Teddy would not have contracted meningitis if he had received treatment 24 hours earlier. He expressed deep self-blame, questioning why he had not insisted on hospital the first night.
The couple enlisted medical negligence solicitors from Penningtons Manches Cooper to seek compensation. To prevent others from suffering similarly, the Woodhouses provided a video to the ambulance service, now used for training paramedics nationwide on how to handle high temperatures in infants.
Kara Woodhouse described her five-year-old son as a “miracle” who remains a happy child despite the immense trauma. Alison Johnson, a partner at Penningtons Manches Cooper, expressed gratitude that the trust accepted liability, sparing the family from a protracted legal battle.
A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance Service offered deep apologies for the experience the family endured. The trust stated their investigation confirmed the boy should have been hospitalized and that they have since implemented changes to clinical decision-making and pediatric care assessments.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
