Nurse tells inquest she didn’t inject seriously
A hospital nurse police suspected of giving an injured woman a lethal dose of insulin has told an inquest she did not inject her.
Heather Bills, 64, died at Middlemore Hospital on January 2, 2013, six weeks after she was badly burned in an explosive Auckland house fire.
She was later discovered to have suffered a suspicious and massive hypoglycaemia-related cerebral injury.
Three medical workers have been listed in police documents as suspects in the open investigation.
On the evening of November 22, 2012, Bills was rescued from an upstairs room of her blazing Orakei home by neighbours.
She was treated at the National Burns Centre and then intensive care at Middlemore. The fire was deliber- ately lit and she suffered burns to 35 per cent of her body.
Her health quickly deteriorated on December 26-27, confusing doctors.
It became clear after an investigation that her death was a result of higher levels of insulin in her body.
Healthcare assistant and qualified nurse Sharon Connors, 62, worked a four-hour shift from 7pm to 11pm on Boxing Day.
She was working because of a staff shortage at Middlemore and was Bills’ watch (someone designated to keep an eye on a high-risk patient).
The experienced nurse was later listed by police as a suspect.
“I was not informed that she had suicidal tendencies, and I was not informed anything about her past. If I had been told this I would have been much more alert and paid much more attention,” Connors said.
She said she was sitting in Bills’ room reading magazines and solving puzzles. Asked by Todd Simmonds, counsel assisting the coroner, if she