Ollie Hall, from Halesworth, died at the James Paget University Hospital (JPUH) after suddenly contracting what doctors determined was meningococcal septicaemia.

Paramedics decided not to send the boy to hospital, despite his family raising concerns of meningitis, and instead took him to see GPs at the nearby Cutlers Hill Surgery. GPs at the surgery assessed Ollie and decided he was well enough to be sent home.

Hours later, Ollie’s parents took him back to the surgery after his condition deteriorated further. GPs phoned for an ambulance but with none available, the couple drove their son 45mins to the JPUH, eventually arriving at around 8pm.

Doctors at the hospital confirmed a diagnosis of meningococcal septicaemia but Ollie died a few hours later. The inquest heard from expert witness Professor Nigel Klein, professor of infectious disease at University College London and a paediatrician at Great Ormond Street Hospital, that he agreed with the diagnosis given to Ollie at the hospital and said that if the youngster had been taken in earlier, he would have survived – even with complications.

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