The death of a teenage student who contracted meningitis could have been avoided if she had been given a vaccination that she was due to have, a coroner ruled today.

Lauren Sandell, 18, died at home from meningitis W after her GP surgery and high school failed to inform her she needed to have a vaccine before she started university.

The inquest was told that her GP practice had failed in its requirements according to a Public Health England report.

The coroner said she would be writing a Future Deaths report to the NHS about setting up more robust systems within GP practices to catch children that may have missed being vaccinated at school.

The teenager, from Woodford Green, had only started at Bournemouth University two weeks before her death.

She was described as a "fit and healthy" young woman who enjoyed football and running.

Lauren had been for a five mile run in the week before her death but suffered from nausea, vomiting and aching limbs in the days before she died.

The inquest heard mum Sharon Sandell thought she was just stressed about starting university life and told police after her death: "How can you die from a panic attack?"

Recording a narrative verdict, coroner Nadia Persaud ruled that Lauren's cause of death was meningococcal sepsis.

She said: "She fell within the cohort of patients requiring the MenACWY vaccine.

"Guidance available to her GP practice indicated that the vaccination should have been given before the start of the new academic year.

"Her GP practice had signed up to an enhanced specification service to give vaccinations to patients of Lauren's age. This was signed from March to June 2016.

"The enhanced service specification required an active call and recall system to be in place for patients of Lauren's age.

"Lauren received no call or recall from the practice. A text was not sent to Lauren and no alert was placed in Lauren's notes."

The coroner said that during an appointment with Lauren's mum on the 13 September, the "risks of not having the vaccine were not adequately explained".

She found that there was "insufficient stock" at the surgery for Lauren to have her vaccine on that day, and that this was as a result of the practice not understanding that there were two types of vaccine - one of which had restricted stock and another which did not.

Ms Persaud said: "There was insufficient stock for Lauren to be vaccinated prior to her departure to her university.

"The practice was not fully informed of the availing of the two different types of vaccination. One of which had an unrestricted supply.

"If she had received the vaccination it's likely her death on the 2 October would have been avoided."

The inquest previously heard that when Lauren was at school, the vaccination had only been offered to children in the younger years, leaving the upper three year groups to find an alternative place to get the treatment.

Lauren's GP, The Broadway Surgery, had also "failed its requirements" according to a report by Public Health England.

It was said that the surgery had a list of 18-year-olds to contact about the vaccination, but this was not updated from November 2015 until after Lauren's death in October 2016.

Dr Ahmed said the surgery was looking at changing its systems to ensure young adults in the year group that may have missed out on a vaccination at school are approached.

She said: "We have been looking at this and we are going to make it an administrative job. It's quite a big task.

"We are looking into hiring someone full time to do this."

The coroner said in her conclusion: "In relation to the practice I'm satisfied that adequate action has been taken within the practice."

During the inquest, the coroner also heard that mum Sharon had been to an appointment with practice nurse Carol Dolphin just under a week before Lauren left for university.

She had mentioned it in passing to Ms Dolphin and was asked whether Lauren had had her vaccination against the deadly strain.

Mrs Sandell said that she was told by Ms Dolphin they did not have enough vaccinations in stock to give to Lauren and that she should call to make an appointment, giving the surgery two week's notice.

In evidence, Ms Dolphin denied this and claimed she had offered Lauren an appointment later that day but Sharon had called Lauren during the consultation and told her she was not free.

The coroner rejected Nurse Dolphin's account, saying: "The documents provided by the practice support the evidence of Mrs Sandell that the vaccines in surgery were already allocated.

"There's no evidence that she offered Lauren an appointment that afternoon."

The inquest heard that nationally, the rate of vaccination is still only 39 per cent in the age group that is most at risk of contracting the bug - which is around 17-25.

The coroner added: "I heard evidence that Mrs Sandell had been actively involved in campaigning to raise awareness for the need for vaccination, particular for sixth form colleges and 16-18 year olds.

"Up until recently she received emails from schools stating they were unaware of the need for vaccination and she thinks the message is still not getting out there.

"Doctor Sheedy [Lauren's Locum GP] confirms there's still some confusion as to who is responsible for vaccination.

"What concerns me about the system for GPs is the enhanced service specification is optional. I understand from the evidence of Matthew Olley from NHS England that there is now no call and recall system under the new enhanced service specification.

"There's information about opportunistic information to those before they go to university. I'm not satisfied there's robust systems in place and not just the local area but nationally.

"Because of that I'm going to write a Regulation 28 Future Deaths report to NHS London which will then be shared with NHS England, to see whether a report can be put in place to check with GP surgeries that they catch children who have missed the MenACWY vaccine in schools."

Speaking after the coroner's findings, Lauren's parents Sharon and Mark Sandell said: "The right verdict was given. We would like to thank the coroner for her findings."

Sharon Sandell said: "She absolutely loved life. We made sure her life is as happy as it could be. We have no regrets.

"It's just been so unnecessarily cut short.

"She had just got to a place where she was so happy. She had her boyfriend and things were going really great for her.

"Her life was just beginning and I think she would be really angry. She will. They have let her down and she has lost her whole future."

Asked if she had a message for parents she said: "Just pushing things, just check - yearly, quarterly."