Baby died of neglect after staff turned off emergency alarm, coroner rules

Baby Louella Sheridan was found ‘floppy’ and ‘unresponsive’ by her mother after staff silenced monitor alarms

Louella Sheridan had been admitted to the Royal Bolton Hospital with bronchiolitis (JMW)

Hospital neglect contributed to the death of a two-month-old baby after staff turned off emergency alarms, a coroner has ruled.

Louella Sheridan died from Covid and a related heart condition at Royal Bolton Hospital on 24 April 2022, after she was admitted with bronchiolitis to the intensive care unit.

Four alarms on a monitoring machine were silenced and then switched off before the baby collapsed on a high-dependency unit, it has been found.

On Wednesday, coroner John Pollard ruled that neglect by staff had contributed to Louella’s death, after staff switched off the alarms on the monitors attached to her during the night.

Mr Pollard said there had been a “gross failure” to provide basic medical care to Louella and that it was “reasonable to conclude if the alarms had not been silenced on the monitor, they would have alerted staff to the collapse and they would have worked on her for some time and her life would have been extended, albeit perhaps for a very short period.”

Louella with her father Granville and her mother Casey Quigley (JMW)

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The inquest heard evidence from Louella’s mother, Casey Quigley, who said she had heard a nurse say words to the effect that “you must be fed up of hearing the bleeping” during the night before Louella died.

According to evidence given by the nursing staff, one ICU nurse was allowed to take a two-hour meal break and to silence alarms repeatedly, and eventually decided to switch the alarm off.

In the early hours of 24 April, Louella had a high temperature and a fast heart rate. However, she was not reviewed by a consultant. Shortly later, her mother found her “floppy and unresponsive” and ran to raise the alarm to nurses.

Ms Quigley said: “Louella deserved a chance to live, but as a family we feel that the actions taken by the hospital’s staff took that chance away from her. Not a day has gone by, in the 20 months since her death, that we haven’t relived that night and wished our daughter was here with us. Louella was our precious baby girl and is missed very much by her brothers and sisters, who will also be affected by her loss for the rest of their lives. The only small comfort we have is that the inquest, and our legal case, might stop the same thing from happening to other vulnerable babies. That’s our only hope.”

Earlier this year, The Independent reported the story of baby Olly Vickers, who died as a result of neglect after hospital staff failed to follow safe breastfeeding guidelines.

Last year, the same trust was criticised following the death of Kingsley Olasupo, a 10-day-old baby boy, who died after staff failed to screen and treat him for sepsis. The Royal Bolton NHS Foundation Trust admitted clinical negligence, while a coroner ruled that his death could have been avoided if he had been given antibiotics earlier. And in 2021, we revealed another tragic story – that of baby Alfie Rizzari, who was stillborn following “systemic errors” at the same hospital.

On 22 April 2022, Louella was admitted to Royal Bolton Hospital’s high-dependency unit after developing bronchiolitis, a virus that can cause breathing difficulties in children.

The month before, Louella had undergone surgery at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital for a heart condition.

Rachael Heyes, a solicitor specialising in medical negligence at JMW, is handling the family’s legal case. She said: “The inquest process has been harrowing for Casey and Granville and only made worse by the handling of it by the hospital, which caused the hearing to be delayed by more than a year. We welcome the coroner’s verdict and hope his comments serve as a warning to staff.

“No patient should have monitoring equipment turned off, particularly not a vulnerable baby. The conclusion of the inquest brings some closure for Casey and Granville, and, although they will never fully recover from this tragedy, it is an important milestone for them.”

Tyrone Roberts, chief nurse at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I want to extend my sincere condolences to Casey, Granville and all of Louella’s family as they continue to come to terms with their tragic loss. We fully accept the outcome of the inquest, and are incredibly sorry that on this occasion our systems and processes that should have cared for Louella fell below our standards.

“We’ve made changes to improve this, but acknowledge there is still work to do, based on the coroner’s recommendations. I know saying we are sorry will never be enough. We are committed to making sure we learn everything we can from what happened, and will make any changes necessary to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.”

The Sands national helpline provides support for anyone affected by the death of a baby. You can call 0808 164 3332 free of charge, or email helpline@sands.org.uk