East Kent Hospitals said it was 'truly sorry' for the 'mistakes' made in the care of Maya Siek who died at Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate in December 2022 after being sent home with antibiotics for suspected tonsillitis.

Dr Des Holden, chief medical officer for East Kent Hospitals, said: 'We are truly sorry for the devastating loss of Maya and we apologise unreservedly to Maya's family for the mistakes we made in her care. 

'We fully accept the coroner's findings. We recognise, with great sadness, that we failed Maya and her family, and we are deeply sorry.

'We undertook a thorough investigation, facilitated by an experienced independent paediatrician, into Maya's care following her death and we have made changes to our children's service as a result, including improving staff training and the importance of listening to families' concerns when a child is unwell.

'We have also strengthened handover between teams and our clinical guidelines for doctors who are looking after deteriorating children.'

Coroner Catherine Wood said a number of things 'could have been done differently' by the trust but found no evidence it had directly caused or contributed to Maya's death.

The six-year-old went into cardiac arrest on 21 December 2022 and died despite resuscitation efforts.

The coroner accepted heart failure as her cause of death along with the presence of other chronic conditions and influenza.