14/11/2012
NI Baby's Death Result Of 'Serious Failings'
The death of a one-year-old County Down baby following open heart surgery was the result of "serious failings", a coroner has said.
Hayley Fullerton died in November 2009 at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in a general ward, after having been transferred from intensive care.
Hayley’s mother Paula Stevenson, from County Down, had flown to the UK from Australia to attend the hearing with Hayley's father Bobby Fullerton.
She told the inquest staff had failed to listen to her concerns.
Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull Aidan Cotter said: "The failures by a number of the staff at Birmingham Children's Hospital were serious but not gross."
Commenting on a failure by medical staff to accurately maintain some of Hayley's medical charts was, he said: "an inaccurate or incomplete chart is at best a waste of time - and at worst, positively dangerous".
The inquest was started in May and was adjourned today for the verdict.
Birmingham Children's Hospital says it has taken "all the steps possible" to learn from Hayley's death.
It added that it offered "a heartfelt apology for the distress that has been caused".
Hayley was born on 6 October 2008 in County Down with a heart defect and a hole in her heart.
The child underwent surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and was flown to Birmingham Children’s Hospital for corrective heart surgery on 14 October the following year.
Ms Stevenson told the inquest how the operation had been successful and Hayley was transferred to the hospital's paediatric intensive care unit.
She spent 17 days there before being moved to a general ward.
She said her daughter had been failed "abominably" by medical staff and the experience had been "brutal".
Ms Stevenson claimed her child had been "dumped" at the end of the ward and said the family's concerns about her breathing were ignored.
She is planning to continue her campaign for better care at the hospital. The family is also continuing to claim for compensation.
(IT)
Hayley Fullerton died in November 2009 at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in a general ward, after having been transferred from intensive care.
Hayley’s mother Paula Stevenson, from County Down, had flown to the UK from Australia to attend the hearing with Hayley's father Bobby Fullerton.
She told the inquest staff had failed to listen to her concerns.
Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull Aidan Cotter said: "The failures by a number of the staff at Birmingham Children's Hospital were serious but not gross."
Commenting on a failure by medical staff to accurately maintain some of Hayley's medical charts was, he said: "an inaccurate or incomplete chart is at best a waste of time - and at worst, positively dangerous".
The inquest was started in May and was adjourned today for the verdict.
Birmingham Children's Hospital says it has taken "all the steps possible" to learn from Hayley's death.
It added that it offered "a heartfelt apology for the distress that has been caused".
Hayley was born on 6 October 2008 in County Down with a heart defect and a hole in her heart.
The child underwent surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and was flown to Birmingham Children’s Hospital for corrective heart surgery on 14 October the following year.
Ms Stevenson told the inquest how the operation had been successful and Hayley was transferred to the hospital's paediatric intensive care unit.
She spent 17 days there before being moved to a general ward.
She said her daughter had been failed "abominably" by medical staff and the experience had been "brutal".
Ms Stevenson claimed her child had been "dumped" at the end of the ward and said the family's concerns about her breathing were ignored.
She is planning to continue her campaign for better care at the hospital. The family is also continuing to claim for compensation.
(IT)
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