How teacher tried in vain to save boy, 5, choking on sausage roll

Staff at hospital ‘hid medication in patients’ food’

A BOY of five choked to death on a sausage roll while eating lunch at school, an inquest heard yesterday.

A teacher tried to clear Theo Silvester’s airway but he turned blue and lost consciousness.

Paramedics arrived at the primary school within three minutes of a 999 call and removed a large piece of sausage.

However, he could not be saved and was pronounced dead at hospital within the hour. Paying tribute to her son, his mother Katie Silvester said: ‘He was a lovely, charming boy. He was only with us a short time and he was taken from us so suddenly and tragically.

‘He is my baby and always will be. He has left an empty void for his family and friends. Everyone will remember his beautiful smile, he was the life and soul and brightened every room.’

Witnesses told the inquest in Hull how Theo, pictured, was eating his packed lunch at Anlaby Primary School in the city in February when some of it got stuck and he gasped for air. Science teacher Matthew Coombe, a trained paediatric first aider, said the youngster was ‘rapidly deteriorating’ when he got to him. ’

An ambulance arrived at 12.15pm and paramedics managed to remove a large piece of sausage and two other pieces of food from his airway. Theo was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary and handed over to A&E staff at 12.46pm. He was pronounced dead just ten minutes later.

The youngster died because food had passed down to his lower airway. Dr Mary Barraclough, a consultant paediatrician, said: ‘The amount [of food] in his throat and below the larynx made the situation almost unsurvivable.’

Coroner Dr Paul Marks recorded a conclusion of accidental death. Dr Marks praised the efforts of teaching staff but said the boy couldn’t have been saved. HOSPITAL staff secretly fed pills to patients by hiding medication in their food, the health watchdog said.

In a separate incident, an inspector even had to save a patient choking on food while staff stood nearby, according to a report released yesterday.

The Care Quality Commission issued a rare warning notice to Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust following inspections of the Queen Alexandra Hospital in February and May this year.

The notice means the hospital must act immediately to improve care.

Inspectors saw staff administering medication by concealing it in ice cream or breakfast. They also found some patients were at risk of malnutrition.

Professor Ted Baker, the CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, said the quality of care at the Queen Alexandra was ‘very poor’. He warned the CQC would be forced to step in to protect patients if the hospital did not meet a series of conditions, including boosting staffing levels.

Mark Cubbon, who took over as boss of the NHS trust in July, said improvements had been made over the last six months.