Inquest for tragic baby girl finds neglect
A coroner has ruled that the death of baby girl at Royal Bolton Hospital was contributed to by neglect.
The Coroner found that the alarms on monitors attached to Louella were turned off by staff responsible for her care.
Casey Quigley, Louella’s mother, 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.”
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, is an important milestone for them.”
Louella was just two months old when she died on Bolton’s children’s ward on 24 April 2022. Louella had a heart condition and had undergone surgery at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool shortly after her birth and was discharged on 15 March.
The youngster was being fed via a tube and was receiving care at home by community nurses based out of Bolton Hospital. On 22nd April, a nurse who visited her found her to be unwell and having to work harder to breathe and called an ambulance. Louella was admitted to the high dependency unit (HDU) and diagnosed with Bronchiolitis, a virus that can cause breathing difficulties in children. She was also treated for sepsis with antibiotics.
Over the next two days Louella remained in HDU. In the early hours of the 24th of April she had a very high temperature and fast heart rate and despite this, a consultant did not review her.
Just before 9am her mother Casey Quigley found that Louella was floppy and unresponsive. Casey ran into the hospital corridor to raise the alarm and find help and a nurse who attended pulled the emergency bell. The crash team who attended tried to resuscitate Louella but tragically were unsuccessful.
Ends
Notes to editors:
Coroner’s verdict available on request
For all media enquiries please contact:
Kelly Hindle
M: 07921 388 584
Samantha Meakin
Note to Editors
JMW Solicitors LLP is a leading Manchester law firm and offers a broad range of legal services to both commercial and private clients.
JMW’s Clinical Negligence team is headed up by leading clinical negligence lawyer, Eddie Jones.
