Top NHS staff have apologised for the death of a 21-year-old after doctors failed to spot sepsis.

Tim Mason came into Tunbridge Wells Hospital with "flu-like" symptoms and was discharged by doctors without further treatment.

However, his condition worsened and he later died hours after being rushed into A&E.

Medical director for the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, Peter Maskell, said: "I don't think I can overstate how sorry we are about what happened to Tim when he came in and was discharged as sepsis wasn't recognised.

"It's quite easy to focus in on the individual clinicians that were involved but I think there's a bigger discussion to be had about processes that are in place."

He added the procedure in place for detecting sepsis "doesn't look too bad" as there is screening and treatment but "clearly it's not 100%".

During the trust board meeting today (October 25) Dr Maskell added the hospital are in contact with the family to learn from their experiences.

He said: "I can't imagine how I might be if I were in their situation but his family have been dignified and want to help because they wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else.

"I'm very keen to engage with them and allow them to be an independent scrutiny on what we've done and to demonstrate to them what we've done."

Junior doctors will now be encouraged to seek "a senior review" from more experienced clincians that involves joint visits to the patient, rather than just looking over notes which is what happened in Tim's case.

Mr Maskell added: "I went to visit the doctor in the centre of this case [Dr Max Bacon] to advise him on what he should be doing but he had already done everything I was going to suggestion to him and he already had done twice as much as well.

"His family have been dignified and want to help..." Dr Peter Maskell

"That's the type of response we expect from clinicians in this trust."

In the report from the head of the trust, Miles Scott, also expressed his condolences to the Mason family.

He wrote: "In March of this year we did not do everything that we could have for 21-year-old Timothy Mason.

"We failed to diagnose Timothy’s sepsis soon enough and take steps to treat this diagnosis.

"Timothy died as a consequence of failings in our care.

"On behalf of the Trust, I would like to reiterate how sorry we are that we did not manage to do the right thing for Timothy.

"We have undertaken a full review of Timothy’s care and implemented a series of actions to address areas of our practice that fell short of the high standards we would want for our patients.

"While I will never be able to adequately address the loss Timothy’s family and friends have suffered, I know that I speak on behalf of the Board when I say that every patient we see is equally important to us.

"We will identify and support every action we can, in a positive and tireless way, to minimise the risk of this happening again."