Mum 'let down' by 111 line after son's sepsis death

The mother of a teenage boy who died from sepsis has said she feels let down by the NHS's 111 medical helpline.

An inquest into Cyrus Perry's death heard his mother Hayley Perry, from Stuminster Marshall in Dorset, had called 111 when her son became very unwell.

She was told a clinician would call her back, but it was eight hours before anyone rang, and by that time Cyrus had died overnight in his bed, the inquest at Dorset Coroners' Court in Bournemouth was told.

The 17-year-old had autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the auto-immune condition lupus.

Cyrus had struggled in mainstream school so was being home educated, but was planning to start at a special educational needs college in September 2023.

His mother said he had wanted to be an accountant and described him as "bright and intelligent, amazing at maths".

After an operation to remove his adenoids and implant grommets into his ears in April 2023, Cyrus became unwell and was put on antibiotics.

The inquest was told on 6 June he was sick, and the following evening his mother called the NHS 111 helpline at 22:28 BST.

She told a health adviser Cyrus was grey and clammy, his skin felt hot, he was becoming confused and dizzy and his vision was going black when he stood up.

The inquest heard she was advised to take him to hospital, but when she explained that she could not get him downstairs on her own, she was told a clinician would call her back.

Cyrus's mum then put a cover over him and went to bed, saying she would come back in when she got a call back.

But the inquest was told the call did not come until 06:13 - nearly eight hours later.

Mrs Perry said she went into her son's bedroom and found he had died.

"I was shouting 'why didn't you send someone?'," she said in a statement read out in court.

Cyrus died from sepsis with group A streptococcus.

Mrs Perry's statement, read out in court, said: "This will haunt me for rest of my life, as I put trust in the system. I have daily flashbacks of seeing son dead in bed.

"His twin brother Reuben is having counselling. It's impacted all his brothers."

An audit by Dorset Healthcare found the call handler Sue Darnell made a number of mistakes, the jury heard.

They were told she did not record all of Cyrus' symptoms, and opportunities were missed to seek clinical advice.

But she told the jury that no clinicians were available at the time.

The inquest heard that night it took an average of three hours and six minutes for people on the urgent 20 minute list to be called back.

The inquest, which is due to hear evidence from local 111 service operator Dorset Healthcare, continues.

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