Pacemaker battery is blamed for girl's death

A girl aged seven died when the battery in her pacemaker stopped working, an inquest was told.

A test on Naomi Northcott-Slade's pacemaker two weeks before her death had shown there was a problem. But before she could be reassessed she collapsed in the playground at Manor Park First School in Dorchester, Dorset, and died later in hospital.

Naomi, who was born with two holes in her heart, had been fitted with the pacemaker in 1999 because she suffered an irregular hearth rhythm, Anthony Salmon, a consultant paediatric cardiologist at Southampton General, Hospital, told the inquest.

Naomi's heart had been monitored for 24 hours on 23 March this year, said Dr Philip Wylie of Dorset County Hospital. He said it was now clear there had been a problem. The test results were faxed to Southampton but, because Mr Salmon was absent, they were not seen until 2 April.

Tests showed the pacemaker had stopped because the battery had run down, not because of any other fault.

Michael Johnston, the coroner, recorded a verdict of accidental death and said: "Naomi would not have died at this time if her pacemaker had worked to an acceptable and programmed standard."