Baby death hospital criticised

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A coroner has criticised a hospital in Wiltshire for the treatment given to a toddler who died after developing breathing difficulties.

Alfie Lewis, 19 months, died in 2007 at Salisbury District Hospital after being admitted with a lung infection.

An inquest concluded his death could have been prevented if senior staff had realised how seriously ill he was.

The hospital said it has made over 30 recommendations to make sure it does not happen again.

Extremely distressed

Alfie Lewis was admitted to the hospital on 28 November 2007 at about 1300 BST.

His GP said in a referral note the child was extremely distressed with a respiratory infection.

Antibiotics were prescribed shortly after Alfie's admission, but were not administered until 1555 BST.

This led the coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, Peter Hatvany, to conclude that the seriousness of the situation was not appreciated by senior staff at the hospital.

I remember I screeched his name hysterically - I don't know whether he heard me Fiona Marks - Alfie's mother

He said: "It is my view that these omissions and delay did on balance of probabilities contribute more than minimally or negligibly to Alfie's death, given that the majority of children presenting with these symptoms would have ordinarily been expected to survive with optimal and timely care."

Alfie's mother, Fiona Marks, said: "Alfie was quite poorly, breathing quite fast, he was floppy and not responsive to me.

"All of a sudden the room filled with people.

"I remember I screeched his name hysterically. I don't know whether he heard me.

"I was taken out of the room while they performed CPR on him."

The hospital issued a statement which said that it had apologised to Alfie's family and that it had acted on the findings of an independent inquiry into his death.

Alfie's parents said this was not the end of the matter for them and that they planned to complain to the General Medical Council.