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NHS trust prosecuted over children's sepsis deaths

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Cite

Adams, L. (2026, October 20). NHS trust prosecuted over children's sepsis deaths. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6jrw1xx419xo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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BBC News · collected 2026-10-20 · by Lewis Adams

Quick Summary

An NHS trust in Essex faces prosecution over the deaths of two children due to sepsis in 2022 and 2024, involving Broomfield Hospital where delays in treatment and incorrect discharge decisions contributed to their fatalities. Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is set to appear before Chelmsford Magistrates' Court in December on three charges related to inadequate care for Zadie Ajetunmobi and Selina Samarina, brought by the Care Quality Commission under the Health and Social Care Act.
Written by AI on 2026-10-20, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSE) is facing criminal prosecution over the deaths of two young children who died from sepsis complications after receiving inadequate care at Broomfield Hospital in Essex. Zadie Ajetunmobi, three years old, passed away within 10 hours of being admitted on November 10, 2022, after suffering a cardiac arrest. She was not given intravenous antibiotics for over seven hours despite showing symptoms such as a high fever and rapid heartbeat. Selina Samarina, two years old, died two days after initially being sent home from the hospital in April 2024 when her condition worsened significantly. MSE is scheduled to appear before Chelmsford Magistrates' Court in December to face three charges under the Health and Social Care Act brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The trust stated they are cooperating with investigators but did not provide further comments due to ongoing legal proceedings.

Written for “NHS Trust Prosecuted Over Sepsis Deaths” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 NHS Trust Prosecuted Over Sepsis Deaths
Health · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
68/100
BBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Health
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

BBC News · 5017 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Lewis Adams
7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Her parents, Theo and Rhiannon, described her as a "beautiful little girl" and added: "This is a tragedy from which we will never recover." 'Very junior doctor'
2026-10-20 · assertive framing · NHS trust prosecuted over children's sepsis deaths
🔮 Foster, 37, previously pleaded guilty to causing death through a reckless, rash or dangerous act and will be sentenced on 16 October.
🔮 "She knew it would be very hot and it can get to about 40C, and the feeling is higher because it's in the canyons," Brown said.
2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Son of ex-Chelsea player died in 40C desert hike
🔮 Wood knows his will be next.
🔮 Aggarwal, of Dickens Rise in Chigwell, Essex, pleaded not guilty to sending a public communication that was offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing and will stand trial in March.
🔮 Police described Noah as white, with curly ginger hair, and said he would not respond to his name being called.
2026-09-15 · assertive framing · Search launched for boy, 3, missing at playground
🔮 But her life took a dramatic and frightening turn during a performance of Queen musical We Will Rock You at the London Coliseum.
Also by Lewis Adams
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by Lewis Adams →

Topics

BBC Broomfield Essex MSE NHS

Subjects

MSE ORG · 4× Broomfield GPE · 3× Essex GPE · 2× Selina PERSON · 2× Selina Samarina PERSON · 2× Zadie PERSON · 2× BBC ORG · 1× Broomfield Hospital ORG · 1× NHS ORG · 1× Zadie Ajetunmobi PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Zadie died within 10 hours of being taken to Broomfield on 10 November 2022, having suffered a cardiac arrest. A post-mortem examination showed her death arose from complications associated with sepsis, external.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-20
🔮 Her parents, Theo and Rhiannon, described her as a "beautiful little girl" and added: "This is a tragedy from which we will never recover." 'Very junior doctor'
2026-10-20 · BBC News
NHS trust prosecuted over children's sepsis deaths · assertive framing

Claims (18 extracted, 1 hedged)

- Published An NHS trust is being prosecuted over the deaths of two children who had sepsis, the BBC has learned. asserted
BBC → publish → sepsis
Two charges relate to Zadie Ajetunmobi, three, who died within hours of being taken to Broomfield Hospital, Essex, with a temperature of 40C (104F) in November 2022. asserted
who → relate → November
A third regards two-year-old Selina Samarina, who was sent home by a doctor at Broomfield in April 2024, only to die two days later. asserted
who → regard → April
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSE), which runs the hospital, asserted
which → run → hospital
said it was "working closely" with investigators. asserted
it → say → investigators
Care and treatment was allegedly "not provided in a safe way" to the girls, court documents revealed. uncertain
documents → provide → girls
The prosecution is being brought by the Care Quality Commission under the Health and Social Care Act. asserted
prosecution → bring → Act
Zadie died within 10 hours of being taken to Broomfield on 10 November 2022, having suffered a cardiac arrest. A post-mortem examination showed her death arose from complications associated with sepsis, external. asserted
death → die → sepsis
She was not given a potentially life-saving dose of intravenous antibiotics for more than seven hours. asserted
She → give → hours
Zadie's family were previously told by MSE that staff had not updated local sepsis guidance since 2017. asserted
staff → tell → 2017
Her parents, Theo and Rhiannon, described her as a "beautiful little girl" and added: "This is a tragedy from which we will never recover." 'Very junior doctor' asserted
we → describe → which
Selina Samarina was taken to Broomfield with symptoms of fever, a rash and irritability on 7 April 2024. asserted
Samarina → take → April
She was discharged by a doctor but died there two days later, after her parents readmitted her. asserted
parents → discharge → her
The sepsis protocol was triggered on Selina's initial arrival at hospital, however a coroner previously said a doctor of appropriate seniority was not available until two-and-a-half hours later. asserted
doctor → trigger → seniority
Selina, who had Down's syndrome, was sent home by a "very junior doctor" in the meantime, assistant coroner Stephen Simblet KC said during an inquest into her death. asserted
KC → have → death
Adam Sewell-Jones, group chief executive of MSE, said: "We are working closely with the CQC on its investigation. asserted
We → say → investigation
"As there is an ongoing legal process, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage." asserted
it → be → stage
MSE is expected to enter pleas to the three charges on 3 December. asserted
MSE → expect → December
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