"She died needlessly" - parents of 'beautiful' three-year-old girl who died of Strep A call for NHS apology

'Beautiful' Penny Stevens died from sepsis after her mother took her home from an 'overwhelmingly busy' hospital having been told by medics that her infection was likely viral.

Her mother Jemma Graham said the inquest into Penny's death has found 'a number of issues' with her care, but that no one has been 'held to account' for her daughter's passing.

Ms Graham said the people responsible will 'never know' the feeling of walking through 'a crowded A&E terrified that their child’s symptoms might be missed'. She has warned other parents to be on the lookout for signs their children have sepsis as it could 'take them in hours'.

At the end of a four day inquest a jury at Winchester Coroner's Court, Hants, found that Penny died of natural causes with Sarah Whitby, assistant coroner for Hampshire, apologising to the family for the 'ordeal' they have endured.

The hearing was told that when her mother took her to St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex, in December in December 2022 it resembled a 'third world country'. Worried parents had flocked to the hospital following a media warning about Strep A, the inquest was told.

Having been told by a nurse and a doctor after an initial examination that she was probably suffering from a virus Ms Graham decided to take her daughter home rather than wait in those conditions for a formal assessment. However when the youngster's condition hadn't improved by the following morning the family called 999.

The ambulance took four hours to arrive, and Penny was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham where she sadly died on December 4, the jury was told.

In a statement following the inquest, Ms Graham said: "We are a grieving family. Two and a half years ago, our beloved daughter, Penny, just three years old, died suddenly and traumatically from sepsis — a condition that is treatable when caught in time.

"We believe the signs were missed. Penny went into cardiac arrest, and our world collapsed. She died needlessly. What followed has broken us beyond anything anyone could ever prepare for.

"The grief of losing a child should be more than enough for any parent to survive — but instead, we’ve been forced to endure years of additional trauma inflicted by the very systems meant to support us."

Ms Graham praised the NHS workers who were placed in 'impossible circumstances' when her daughter fell ill, adding that the family feels 'only admiration and empathy' towards them.

She said: "The system failed us all. And we know that truth must live alongside our pain."

The mother criticised 'those who shape policy, who deny funding, who stay silent'. She said: "As we continue to seek justice for Penny, like everything else, the burden of accountability rests on the wrong shoulders.

"The people who should be apologising — those who shape policy, who deny funding, who stay silent — will never know what this feels like. They will never walk through a crowded A&E terrified that their child’s symptoms might be missed. They will never be left with nothing but a memory and a report."

Penny's parents believe the signs of sepsis were 'missed' by medics, 'a condition that is treatable when caught in time'.

The grieving mum said: "The inquest has highlighted a number of issues with Penny’s care and yet, what will come of it? No recommendations. No accountability. No enforced change. No protection for those who are next, and still, no apology.

"Should we be speaking to raise awareness of the dangers of sepsis? Yes, parents should know the signs — because we believe the system currently does not have the capacity or resources to guarantee that children will be protected, but this is so much more than that.

"This is about a national system that is broken — and it is breaking families like ours and professionals alike, every single day.”

She said that the NHS Trust in Hampshire has introduced a trained family liaison officer since Penny's death, something the family didn't have access to at the time.

Ms Graham said: "A small but vital step, but will they be allowed to keep it? Will they be supported to make more changes? Or will funding cuts once again dismantle something created from pain?

"Penny died because the system was overwhelmed. If there had been just a little more time, a little more resource, a little less chaos — she might have received the treatment that could have saved her. That knowledge lives with us forever."

The mother said that 'Penny was bright, joyful, full of wonder'.

She added: "Our daughter Penny is gone. Her death was preventable and no one — no one — has been held to account."

Ms Graham said of the inquest process: "All of this — for what? This inquest did not help our daughter. It has not helped us. It has retraumatised our family, our community, and the very professionals who cared for Penny.

"It has shown us again that we are small in the face of vast, national failure. That we must fend for ourselves. That justice is a maze of closed doors and quiet apologies — if any.

"This is for Penny, because she no longer has a voice and this is for every family who has endured what we have. For every NHS professional left unsupported before, during, and after tragedy. For every parent who doesn’t know that sepsis could take their child in hours, and for every one who learns that too late.

"We are still here, surviving for Penny’s little brother but we are changed forever."

Penny's parents criticised the fact that they had to relive the trauma of the day she died 'not because we needed to, not because it helped us, but because this system required it'.

Ms Graham said: "This is cruelty in its most civilised form. It looks like order, but it feels like violence. We sit here in body, enduring what we must, but our souls — and Penny’s — are far from this cold, procedural room."

University Hospitals Sussex NHS trust has been approached for comment.

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