The death of a one year old boy could have been prevented if medical staff had done more to diagnose his symptoms, his parents told an inquest.

William Oscar Mead, known affectionately as Grumpus to his family , died on December 14 last year after suffering an abscess caused by the bacteria streptococcus A, which his family said should have been spotted sooner.

Professor Peter Fleming, a expert on respiratory illnesses from Bristol Children's Hospital, said if a very significant change in William's core temperature had been picked up by 111 service operators or out-of-hours GP Dr Nicholas Walker, he could have been admitted to hospital and his condition "would have been treatable."

The Mead family first took William to the doctor in September with a chesty cough, diagnosed as tonsillitis for which he was prescribed antibiotics. A month later he returned for an appointment where his mother said a doctor reported hearing "crackling" in his chest, although the GP, Dr Hayley Savage, said she had simply heard noises from his respiratory tract.

Six days before his death William was taken to have his one year booster jabs, and shortly afterwards fell ill, coughing and vomiting, with his parents reporting that he was off his food and had a high temperature.

Mrs Mead told the inquest that William's GP, Dr Neil McKay, had said it was "nothing grisly" at an appointment two days before her child's death, and had recommended the family give him ibuprofen and calpol to regulate his temperature.

Dr McKay said that William's recorded temperature, while a cause for concern at 40C, was not a "red flag", and without William presenting any other symptoms of a serious illness he

The following day his condition had worsened and Mrs Mead called the out-of-hours 111 service, and was called back at around 7.30pm by the out of hours GP.

The inquest heard a transcript in which Mrs Mead was offered an appointment at a Falmouth surgery but said William was asleep and she didn't want to drag him out unnecessarily, and after further consultation it was agreed to continue giving him medicine and fluids, and she was told if she wanted to see a doctor she would have to call 111 again.

Mrs Mead sobbed as she told the court how she had found William at about 8.30am the following morning: "He didn't stir.

"He was stiff and cold. I opened the curtains and he then looked to me as if he was dead."

Professor Fleming told the inquest that "with the benefit of hindsight" William could have been treated if he had been admitted to hospital on Saturday morning.

He said it was likely that the abscess which killed him had been present on Friday morning, but the strain of streptococcus A he had was a "rapidly progressive condition," and evidence would have been hard to spot in a small child, adding he had "no question" that Dr McKay's actions had been "appropriate."

He raised concerns over the 111 service, with employees "working from a script" and without the means to assess "what could be a very sick small child."

At the end of the eight hour inquest, coroner Emma Carlyon recorded a verdict of death by natural causes and agreed with a pathologists report that the cause of William's death was septicaemia, streptococcus A, caused by an empyema in the left pleural cavity, caused by bronchopneumonia.

Speaking after the verdict Mrs Mead, surrounded by friends and family, described William as "the best little boy anyone could ever have", and said they "have to live the rest of our lives knowing William's life was taken from him."

She said: "We can only hope that no other family has to suffer the unrelenting agony of losing a child in these circumstances and that changes brought about by today's outcome can prevent future deaths and improve the practice of GPs and the 111 and out of hours service."