FAILURES by doctors to give vital medication to a boy with suspected meningitis may have contributed to his death, a coroner ruled yesterday.

William Cressey died in 2005 after staff at Darlington Memorial Hospital failed to spot he was suffering from the killer bug.

The ten-year-old, from Hurworth Place, near Darlington, was sent home when doctors decided he was getting better.

He was back in hospital within hours and soon slipped into a coma, from which he never recovered.

William’s mother, Cheryl Cressey, last night condemned the treatment received by her son, describing it as “barbaric and inhumane”. She said: “No child should ever suffer the severe agony, anxiety and fear that William suffered, and no child should ever suffer such a terribly horrific death in a British NHS hospital.”

She has instructed a specialist in clinical negligence at Manchester law firm Pannone LLP to pursue a case against the hospital.

Yesterday, at the end of the three-day inquest at Newcastle Civic Centre, Coroner David Mitford said doctors and nurses missed a series of chances to give him the antibiotics needed to save his life.

In a three-page conclusion, Mr Mitford ruled the actions of the nurses who had been told to monitor and record William’s condition were “startlingly inadequate”.

He said the involvement of the doctor who first discharged William was “marginal and unsatisfactory” and she should have checked more closely before sending him home.

He also said the senior consultant who ruled against giving William antibiotics when he was readmitted to casualty missed a “clear opportunity”

to help the boy.

William died from a rare strain of bacterial meningitis, but doctors first thought he had a viral infection or bleeding to the brain.

The coroner recorded the cause of death as natural causes, but took the unusual step of adding the caveat “to which a delay in giving antibiotic treatment for meningitis may have contributed”.

The inquest earlier heard testimony from Mrs Cressey, who said she had repeatedly been refused medicine and help from doctors.

She said staff had “rolled their eyes, tutted, and turned their backs” instead of taking her concerns seriously.

Mr Mitford said Mrs Cressey’s version of events may have been affected by the trauma of his death.

He said: “She, understandably, was emotional and upset and I believe her description of William’s condition has become coloured by her emotions and consequently exaggerated.”

William was admitted to the hospital with headaches on February 27, 2005.

He was kept in the children’s ward overnight, and examined the next morning.

Meningitis was ruled out at that point, which Mr Mitford said was a reasonable decision based on his condition at that time.

Staff were told to monitor William throughout the day to see if he was fit enough to send home that evening, but there were only scant records that he had been checked at all.

Mr Mitford said William’s headaches and high temperature could have continued, but it was impossible to tell because of the “almost total lack of adequate documentation of any observations”.

That night, senior house officer Dr Pallavi Agadoorappa discharged William without examining him.

Mr Mitford said that if William had been checked, vital signs indicating the onset of meningitis could have been spotted.

At home, William’s condition deteriorated rapidly, and when his frantic mother took him back to hospital hours later, paediatrics specialist Dr Sadasivam Arun wanted to give him antibiotics.

He called senior consultant Dr Malik Alam at home at 10.15pm to check if he should do so, but was over-ruled.

In cross-examination yesterday, Dr Alam admitted that William should have been given the drug.

He said: “I was wrong. At that time I reacted differently to how I usually do. I cannot justify not giving it.”

William was eventually given antibiotics at 11.30pm, once blood tests confirmed that meningitis was likely.

His condition worsened throughout the night, and he slipped into a coma.

He was transferred to Newcastle General Hospital, but never regained consciousness.

He died on March 1.

At the inquest yesterday, independent meningitis expert Professor Nicholas Rutter said the strain of the disease suffered by William was severe and quite rare.

He added that while antibiotics may not have saved his life, they would have improved his chances.

Asked if antibiotics should have been given in the afternoon before William was sent home, he said: “The chances of a successful outcome would have been greater then than at 9pm, and certainly greater than at 11.30pm.”

Bob Aitken, medical director for the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, said last night: “This is a tragic case and has been extremely distressing for all those involved.

“Once again, on behalf of the trust I would like to convey our sincere sympathy to the family of William Cressey for their loss.

“As this case is still subject to a legal claim, it would not be appropriate for the trust to comment further.”