A young mother died from sepsis contributed to by NHS neglect after she was given the wrong antibiotics, a coroner has ruled. Aleisha Rochester, 33, a bank cashier from Croydon, south London, died two weeks after undergoing a routine procedure to remove an abscess from her left armpit.

She had sought medical help several times for her worsening condition and been prescribed antibiotics but not ones that could tackle the bacteria causing her infection. Staff at St Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals also did not follow the NHS trust’s own guidelines on administering antibiotics, assistant coroner Sian Reeves said.

The trust has apologised. During an inquest in December, Ms Reeves ruled that Ms Rochester’s death had been contributed to by neglect and she would most likely have lived if given the right antibiotics in time.

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Ms Rochester left behind a son, Xavier, now aged eight. Recording her verdict, Ms Reeves said Ms Rochester suffered from the condition hidradenitis suppurativa, which causes abscesses on the skin. She had undergone a routine day procedure at St Thomas’ Hospital on August 5 2023 to remove abscesses from her left armpit and groin.

“At some point after the 10th of August, she became unwell and the wound to her left armpit became infected,” Ms Reeves said. “She went to an out-of-hours GP appointment on the 13th of August where she was prescribed a course of penicillin-based antibiotic.

“On the same day, she went to the A&E at Croydon University Hospital, where doctors said she’d got a wound infection and discharged her home with a plan to continue the antibiotics. On the evening of the 14th of August, she went to the A&E department at St Helier hospital. She had a wound infection to her left armpit and was administered a dose of flucloxacillin (antibiotic) intravenously, and then was sent home with a plan to return the next day.”

Ms Rochester went back to hospital the next morning and was seen by a junior doctor and senior house officer, followed by a specialist. “Antibiotics were prescribed but were not in line with St Helier Hospital’s antimicrobial guidelines,” the coroner wrote.

She added that the drugs did not provide effective coverage against a gram positive organism, which was the most likely pathogen causing the infection. “Prior to selecting this combination of antibiotics, the surgical team did not consult with the hospital’s microbiology team for advice.”

On August 16, another drug was given to Ms Rochester “which was in line with the hospital guidelines” but she deteriorated and was admitted to intensive care on August 17. By that time, she was in septic shock with multiple organ failure. There were also signs of infection in her lungs.

“Despite a maximal antibiotics regime, intubation, ventilation and intensive medical support, Ms Rochester continued to deteriorate,” the coroner said. She suffered a cardiac arrest in the early hours of the morning on the 19th of August, from which she could not be resuscitated.”

The coroner ruled that, on August 15, Ms Rochester “should have been, but was not prescribed” the right antibiotics and if she had, she most likely would have survived. “Her death was contributed to by neglect,” she said. Ms Rochester’s mother Lorna has launched legal action against the trust.

“Aleisha was the most loving, caring and compassionate daughter you could wish for,” her mother said. She was strong, independent and ambitious, with a vibrant personality and had ambitions of starting her own business. Aleshia was an amazing mummy with motherhood coming to her naturally.

“The bond between Aleisha and Xavier was evident in every moment they spent together. There’s still not a day goes by when we don’t think of Aleisha or miss her… There’s a huge void in our family and the hardest thing to try and come to terms with is how she’ll never get to see Xavier grow up and celebrate milestones in life.

“We’ll make sure Xavier knows how much his mummy loved him and how proud she would be of him. However, I don’t think our family will ever get over the pain of losing Aleisha especially in the way we did… All we can hope for now is that by speaking out, we can help improve care for others and raise awareness of how important it is to spot and treat sepsis correctly.”

Madeline Nugent, medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, representing the family, said: “This is a truly tragic case which has left Aleisha’s loved ones devastated.

“The neglect finding means the coroner was satisfied that there was a gross failure to provide Aleisha with basic medical care. Through our work we continue to see too many families impacted by sepsis. While it’s too late for Aleisha and her family it’s now vital that lessons are learned from the failings that the inquest identified in her care.”

Dr Richard Jennings, group chief medical officer for St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals, said: “We know we failed Ms Rochester by not giving her the correct antibiotics, with tragic consequences – for this we are extremely sorry and offer our deepest apologies and condolences to her family.

“We sadly can’t put this right for Ms Rochester, but we would like to assure her family that we have learned from Ms Rochester’s death, and we have taken multiple steps to prevent this happening again. We are now giving further training to staff on the prompt recognition of sepsis, and have taken measures to make sure antibiotic prescribing is done correctly.

“We are also carrying out regular audits to make sure our guidelines are being followed.”