It was two days after Christmas and Lila Marsland wanted to ride her new bike. The parents of the ‘lively and vibrant’ five-year-old — Darren Marsland and Rachael Mincherton — took her to the picturesque Dovestone Reservoir.
She then began complaining of a headache. On the walk back to the car, Lila was sick. She later began complaining of neck pain. Rachael decided to take her to hospital.
The 36-year-old was, at the time, working as a district nurse for the trust that runs Tameside General Hospital. When she took her daughter to A&E, she had ‘full faith’ medics would find out what was wrong and treat her appropriately.Rachael said she soon began to fear Lila may have had the condition often dubbed ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’ — meningitis.
After being transferred to the children’s ward, despite showing ‘strong signs’, she said she was ‘reassured Lila didn’t have it’. She was discharged with suspected tonsillitis at 2.40am.»When I woke up in the morning she was dе ad,» Rachael said. After finding her daughter unresponsive, she called 999 and attempted CPR.
Paramedics quickly arrived at the family home in Hyde, Tameside, but Lila was pronounced dе ad just before 9.20am on December 28, 2023. A post-mortem found she did indeed have meningitis and that it caused her dе ath.
Following an inquest, which examined Lila’s care and treatment at Tameside General Hospital, a jury last week concluded her dе ath was preventable and ‘contributed to by neglect’. Rachael, outside court, said: «I would like to thank the jury for coming to this conclusion, based on the evidence provided — a conclusion I have known for 17 months.
«Hearing the word ‘neglect’ is something a parent should never have to hear and we are now left with the devastating loss of our daughter for the rest of our lives.»
Rachael and scaffolder Darren, 42, said their lives — and that of Lila’s 15 year-old sister Ava — had been ‘devastated’. They have been left feeling ’empty’.
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