Megan Draper, an 18-year-old Bournemouth University student, died from meningitis B on October 29, 2025. A coroner has ordered a jury-led inquest to investigate triage failures at Royal Bournemouth Hospital and gaps in vaccination guidance.
The Royal Bournemouth Hospital discharge that delayed critical care
The death of Megan Draper followed a sequence of medical missteps that began at Royal Bournemouth Hospital. According to the report, Megan Draper was initially hospitalized after presenting with gastrointestinal, skin, and throat symptoms, yet she was mistakenly discharged rather than being admitted for definitive care. This error forced a return to the facility and a subsequent transfer to Southmead Hospital in Bristol, where the student was placed in a medically induced coma before passing away four days later.
The failure is attributed to a breakdown in communication involving the patient, her parents, and the non-emergency NHS 111 service . As the report says, the on-call triage team at the hospital failed to recognize the urgency of Megan Draper's symptoms during the discharge process and subsequent NHS 111 interactions, leading to a critical delay in the administration of life-saving treatment.
Why the 2015 MenB vaccine rollout left Megan Draper unprotected
A central point of the upcoming legal proceedings is the specific nature of meningitis vaccinations. While Megan Draper had been immunized against strains A, C, W, and Y, she had not received the MenB vaccine. This specific vaccine has been available via the NHS since 2015, but primarily for infants identified as being at the highest risk, creating a coverage gap for older teenagers.
The family of Megan Draper claims they were misled regarding the scope of her protection . Helen Draper told the Daily Mail that the family assumed the standard meningitis vaccination covered all strains, only discovering the omission of the MenB shot after the tragedy occurred. This highlights a systemic failure in how vaccine schedules are communicated to parents and young aduts.
Bournemouth University's "meningitis jab" checklist and the risk of ambiguity
The inquest will scrutinize the medical guidance provided by Bournemouth University to its incoming students. The university utilized a medical checklist that advised students to be up to date on their vaccinations, but it referred generally to a "meningitis jab" without specifying which strains were covered. This lack of precision may have contributed to the false sense of security felt by Megan Draper and her parents.
Cathy Joyce, a senior nurse at Bournemouth University, noted during a preliminary hearing that many parents mistakenly believe routine immunizations provide blanket protection against all forms of the disease. By failing to clarify the distinction between the routine schedule and the MenB vaccine, the university's guidance may have left students vulnerable during a high-risk transition period.
Coroner Brendan Allen's mandate for a jury-led inquest in July 2027
Coroner Brendan Allen has taken the unusual step of ordering that the inquest into the death of Megan Draper be heard before a jury, with proceedings set to begin on July 19, 2027. Mr. Allen justified this decision by stating that a jury must hear the full facts when a "suspicious death rises from a notifiable disease."
The jury will be tasked with answering several critical, unresolved questions. Specifically, they must determine if the death of Megan Draper was preventable or if the progression of meningitis B was too rapid for any intervention to have worked. furthermore,the jury will evaluate whether the public health system violated the law and if the triage protocols at Royal Bournemouth Hospital were fundamentally flawed. The source notes that the report only presents the family's and the coroner's perspectives,leaving the formal defense of the NHS 111 and hospital staff to be heard during the 2027 testimony.
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