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

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 at Royal Bolton Hospital in on 24 April 2022 after she was admitted with bronchiolitis to the hospital’s intensive care unit before later dying from Covid and a related heart condition.

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

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

Summing up his conclusion Coroner Pollard reportedly said there was a “gross failure “ to provide basic medical care to Louell and that had care been given, had the alarms been switched on to alert staff her life may have been extended at least for a short period of time.

He said turning off the alarms was a gross type of conduct.

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Source: The Independent, 22 December 2023