Boy died after being sent home by doctors

A father whose son died after being sent home from two hospitals demanded an explanation yesterday as to why his condition was not dealt with earlier.

Fourteen-year-old Richard Poole-Donne, who contracted MRSA – a bacterium which causes blood poisoning – was on holiday with his father when he began to complain of a sore ankle.John Poole, from Ammanford, west Wales, said he took his son to Morriston Hospital in Swansea, where "the doctor put a bandage on his leg and sent us on our way".

When the teenager returned home to his mother and stepfather in Farnborough, Hampshire, he began hallucinating and was taken to Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey. There, he was told that he had pulled a ligament and sent home, Mr Poole said.

Mr Poole said his son returned to Frimley Park after his stepfather noticed his leg was changing colour. Richard was then transferred to St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London, where he died on 14 August, Mr Poole said.

A spokesman for Frimley Park Hospital confirmed that it had treated the teenager for an injured ankle on 11 August. An appointment was made for the following week but the teenager was admitted two days later with suspected septicaemia and died after being transferred to St George's Hospital.