19/05/2003

Minor op death linked to ‘system neglect’

An inquest jury, returning a verdict of accidental death, has found that the death of a nine-year-old boy was contributed to by “system neglect”.

Tony Clowes died during a routine operation on a finger injury at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford in 2001.

The inquest heard that Tony’s finger, which had become trapped in a bicycle chain, required surgery, but that during the operation a vital breathing tube in a part of the anaesthetic apparatus had been blocked by a cap from a piece of surgical equipment.

Hospital staff did not realise that the apparatus was blocked and the boy died when he was starved of oxygen during the procedure.

An investigation conducted by police last year ruled out foul play as the cause of the boy’s death.

The coroner described the boy’s death as a “dreadful loss”.

(SP)

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