Selasa, 01 Mei 2012

Hayley Fullerton inquest: Family of heart failure baby tell how they were treated with 'utter contempt' at hospital where girl died

Hayley Fullerton inquest: Family of heart failure baby tell how they were treated with 'utter contempt' at hospital where girl died

  • Nurses were too busy to regular check patients two nights before infant died
  • One-year-old Hayley was 'overlooked and neglected' 
  • Doctors were 'arrogant and unprofessional'
  • Parents were repeatedly told there was 'nothing to worry about'
  • Hospital apologises for not requesting treatment on Hayley soon enough
  • When family expressed concerns doctor treated them with 'utter contempt'

By Katherine Faulkner

PUBLISHED: 16:40 EST, 30 April 2012 | UPDATED: 19:50 EST, 1 May 2012

Paula Stevenson, seen here with a picture of her baby girl Hayley, describe her daughter's treatment at Birmingham Children's Hospital as 'brutal'

Paula Stevenson, seen here with a picture of her baby girl Hayley, describe her daughter's treatment at Birmingham Children's Hospital as 'brutal'


The family of a baby girl who died after doctors ignored their pleas to help her said they had been treated with ‘utter contempt’, an inquest heard yesterday.

Hayley Fullerton died of a massive heart attack after she was treated at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

During her care, the one-year-old twice suffered a collapsed lung after doctors mistakenly inserted a breathing tube too far down her throat.

Her family say she experienced ‘brutal’ treatment at the hands of some NHS staff and have accused the hospital of ‘abominable’ failings in her care.

Yesterday they told her inquest how her cardiologist had ‘barked’ and ‘glared’ at them after they raised questions over the dying baby’s care.

And the family say doctors ignored their pleas to move her into intensive care â€" something medics now admit could have saved her life.

The inquest heard that Hayley was born with a blockage which meant blood could not get from her heart to her lungs. She was operated on at one hospital, and then sent to Birmingham for heart surgery in October 2009.

The operation was a success, but complications arose when staff inserted a tube into her lung incorrectly, causing it to collapse.

After being told Hayley’s right lung had collapsed, her grandmother Sylvia Stevenson, who has since died, asked paediatric cardiologist Dr Oliver Stumper what treatment she could be given.

Her husband Edward Stevenso n told the coroner that Dr Stumper had ‘glared’ at his wife and ‘gave her a look of utter contempt’, before telling her Hayley would have to wait until the following day.

One-year-old Hayley Fullerton's treatment at Birmingham Children's Hospital was described by her mother as 'brutal' Undated family handout photo of Hayley Fullerton.

Hayley Fullerton was born with a hole in her heart, and had to undergo surgery aged 10-months-old to correct it

Undated family handout photo of Hayley Fullerton. Undated family handout photo of Hayley Fullerton.

It was during the recovery from the surgery when complications arose, ultimately leading to her tragic death

In a statement written before her death, Mrs Stevenson said: ‘My daughter said I looked like a parent in a third world country begging for my child’s life.’

Forty-eight hours later Hayley died after both her lungs collapsed and she went into cardiac arrest.

At the inquest yesterday, her mother Paula Stevenson said: ‘I could not believe that Hayley had just been left to deteriorate.

‘All along the family had expressed their concerns about Hayley’s breathing and had even asked if there was a problem with her lungs, yet nothing was done. I do not understand how things were left to get so bad.’

Dr Stumper, who has worked at Birmingham Children’s Hospital since 1993, told the inquest he should have provided the treatment sooner. The doctor said Hayley had been ‘doing pretty fine’ until she suffered an ‘acute sudden collapse’ on the morning of November 11, when both lungs collapsed and she went into cardiac arrest.

Paula Stevenson told an inquest her one-year-old daughter was overlooked and neglected at the hospital

Paula Stevenson told an inquest her one-year-old daughter was overlooked and neglected at the hospital

‘I think we provided therapy by and large at the right time,’ he said. ‘I express my frustration and apology that we failed, that I failed, to request physiotherapy on the evening of November 9. Having said that, she did improve after she received physiotherapy on November 10.’

On Monday Miss Stevenson, 40, told how she was so desperate for nurses to pay more attention to her daughter that she offered one a £100 bribe to ‘look after’ her.

Miss Stevenson, who now lives with Hayley’s father Bobby Fullerton and their second daughter Casey in Australia, also told how she ‘begged’ medics to put Hayley back into an intensive care unit after her lung collapsed.

Yesterday consultant paediatrician Adrian Plunkett admitted that might have saved her life. But he added: ‘I have doubts as to whether she would have survived long term.’

The inquest continues.

Hayley Fullerton with her grandfather Edward Stevenson. Her grandparents helped keep a vigil at her bedside for four weeks when she was in the hospital Proud grandmother Sylvia Stevenson holding little Hayley. They were repeatedly told by medics there was nothing to worry about

Hayley Fullerton with her grandparents, Edward and Sylvia Stevenson, both helped keep a bedside vigil for the four weeks Hayley spent in hospital before her death


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My heart is broken for this poor, poor woman. I cannot even begin to imagine how I would feel if this were my daughter. I would lose my mind. I'd also name nurses and doctors who let this happen to every media outlet in the world. I wonder how they can sleep at night.

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Tragic, such a beautiful little baby.

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James, London, 01/5/2012+++++++So far we've seen "Ms Stevenson said..." and "Ms Stevenson alleges..." and "Ms Stevenson felt that..." Ms Stevenson is not a doctor and has no medical knowledge so, perhaps instead of jumping to conclusions, lets hear what the inquest establishes from expert witnesses before blame is apportioned. The use of the headline about bribery was appalling when, in fact, no bribery took place. The DM is fast becoming The Sun.

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I will add here, that having worked in a hospital for a number of years, I have never seen so much arrogance, laxity, laziness, incompetence, complacency, misinformation, poor communication disregard for human life. It is a brotherhood system you cannot beat. If you stand up to challenge, you are cut down. If you don't fit in, you are cut down. You have to leave so you don't become like them. It is a rarity to find any staff that actually care about the person more than their earnings and vanity for status. I found only a few are passionate about their work for the greater good....

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My 3 month old daughter was in intensive care, with a swelling to her brain - she was stable, alert and awake and fully responsive, being monitored in an uncubator for several days, and prognosis was good .....but then 'they' decided to ship her 60 miles away because they 'werent equipped to look after babies'. By the time she arrived at the next hospital, she was clinically dead on arrival not even able to breathe for herself - her brain had suddenly swelled more (when it had been slowly diminshing) and she never awoke again . It wasn' a coincidence. It was the journey that killed her. She had been fine until they loaded her into the ambulance (we had to travel separately) It was too soon to move her - they should have waited until the swelling had fully diminished (it WAS diminishing). But they wouldn't wait. The journey and moving and 2 hours of road jolting exacerbated her condition, ended her life. Every day, 'they' make BAD decisions about peopl e's lives.....

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Very sad sorry, my thoughts are with her family. As an aside - to all the Americans berating the NHS, please be quiet about something you clearly know little about, and have probably never personally experienced.

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Rest in peace little one.

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@Dolittle, USA, 01/5/2012 12:53 Obama wants to model access to healthcare to the poorest people. You forgot to mention that those that have the best healthcare are those that can afford it. Wait until you have a really expensive healthcare problem and have to look up the fine print in your insurer's policies and are denied healthcare. I will NEVER have to worry about that!

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A very sad story. This is what Obama wants the USAs health care system to model. Health care workers in the USA can tell you that they see people from Canada and Britian come to the US inorder to receive quality care. - Dolittle, USA, 01/5/2012 12:53 ------ Complete Fabrication, the one person the Tea Party found as an example of a Canadian seeking US treatment was a liar and a fantasist.

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Can someone please explain to me why the NHS staff treat patients with horrid conditions this way? I guess it's because they don't tick the politically correct boxes.

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