A three-year-old girl died three months after doctors ‘missed opportunities’ to diagnose her rare condition and instead sent her home from A&E.
Ryleigh Hillcoat-Bee was admitted to hospital in August 2021 after she became floppy and lethargic following a family trip to North Wales.
Doctors discovered that Ryleigh had elevated levels of potassium in her blood as well as ‘extraordinarily high’ levels of Creatine Kinase, which could have helped them diagnose her serious muscle condition rhabdomyolysis.
But instead of scrutinising Ryleigh’s condition further, staff sent her home with a planned follow-up for six to eight weeks later.
However no follow-up was organised, and three months later Ryleigh was back in A&E after her parents Caroline and Andrew became concerned about her
breathing.
Ryleigh Hillcoat-Bee suffered a cardiac arrest and died on Monday, November 8. Three months prior she was sent home from A&E despite tests showing she had ‘extraordinarily high’ levels of Creatine Kinase, which can indicate a muscle injury or disease
Ryleigh pictured with her parents Andrew and Caroline who said they were left ‘infuriated’ after the hospital phoned to arrange the follow-up tests a few days after her death. Now they have vowed to sue the hospital where she was treated
After arriving at Blackpool Victoria Hospital (pictured) on November 8, 2021, Ryleigh’s condition rapidly deteriorated. She suffered a cardiac arrest and died there, the same hospital where she was born
