‘We trusted doctors to look after Noah, we were terribly let down’
MELANIE and Patrick Robinson’s baby, Noah, died after a series of blunders at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 201 .
Noah was born by Caesarean section 12 weeks early on March 20, weighing just 1lb 7oz, after Mrs Robinson developed potentially fatal pre-eclampsia.
Despite his size he was given a good chance of survival.
But an inquest heard he died less than four days later after doctors mistakenly put a breathing tube into his gullet, which connects to the stomach. It should have gone into his trachea.
They also ignored five warning signs – from X-rays and other equipment, which they wrongly assumed were faulty. Mrs Robinson, said there was only one senior doctor on duty when Noah began to deteriorate on March 22.
Recording a verdict of misadventure coroner Nicholas Rheinberg told the inquest: ‘There were very considerable signs [the tube was incorrectly positioned] and I find it surprising these signs were not realised.’
He said an assumption that equipment was faulty was ‘extraordinary’.
‘Shouldn’t the first assumption be the tube is in the wrong place, or that’s a strong possibility?’ he asked.
‘It’s like flying an aeroplane and seeing the oil gauge come on and you assume the gauge must be wrong, rather than the oil pressure is low.’
Mrs Robinson, who now has a daughter, was dismayed by the hospital’s level of care. ‘We put our trust in the doctors to look after Noah, but they didn’t do what they were supposed to,’ she said. ‘We feel terribly let down by the NHS.’