A HEALTHY student was treated as a “time-waster” by hospital staff who reportedly watched the Lionesses on TV instead of treating her, an inquest heard.

Libby Instone, 20, was told she had gastroenteritis during three visits to an urgent care centre in just over 24 hours.

Libby Instone posing outside next to a large tree and a pond.
Libby Instone died from a bowel infarctionCredit: PA
 

Libby Instone smiling while sitting in a velvet chair under red lighting.
The student was treated as a ‘time-waster’ by medics, an inquest was toldCredit: PA
The Newcastle University law student had been vomiting for days after returning from a trip to London with her boyfriend on August 16, 2023.

An inquest heard she went to North Tees Hospital Urgent Care Centre (UCC) two days later where she was prescribed anti-sickness drugs but was not examined.

Libby was sent home but her concerned family including her mum Susan, took her back to the UCC that evening where a doctor said Libby had gastroenteritis.

The student was sent home yet again but her parents took her back to the UCC at 2.30pm the next day as she was “totally exhausted and very weak”, according to her mother.

Libby Instone, who died as a result of an infarction of her small intestine, stands in a yellow dress on a cobbled street lit by streetlights.
Libby had began vomiting and was in extreme painCredit: PA
 

Libby Instone smiling and holding a drink in a dimly lit setting with a neon sign that reads "FOLLOW THE CALL OF THE DISCO BALL."
She had tragically asked her mum if she was going to dieCredit: PA
Libby was admitted to a ward that night, and the next day her parents visited her but claimed staff were pre-occupied watching the Lionesses play in the Women’s World Cup on TV. England were playing Spain in the final.

Susan said they had already waited for around nine hours for Libby to be seen the day before.

A nurse had then put her on a drip and she was given painkillers and anti-sickness medication.

Later that day, Susan said Libby was allowed to go home but that she continued to feel so unwell that she had to be carried back to bed.

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Her mum tried to feed her tomato soup, which she could not manage, the inquest heard.

Susan said: “She said she was scared and asked if she was going to die.

“I laughed and told her not to be daft.”

Minutes later, Libby collapsed and paramedics rushed the student to hospital.

England's goalkeeper Mary Earps saves a penalty from Spain's Jenni Hermoso during the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 final.
The inquest heard hospital staff were pre-occupied watching the Women’s World Cup where England were playing Spain in the final, pictured, on the day Libby diedCredit: Getty Images
 

Exterior of North Tees Hospital with an "Emergency Department" sign and a separate "Assessment Pod" sign with an arrow pointing right.
Libby’s worried family had repeatedly taken her back to North Tees HospitalCredit: Alamy Stock Photo
Tragically she could not be saved and died as a result of an infarction – a blockage – of her small intestine.

Mrs Instone said: “A female member of staff then came up to me and told me that they had just thought that she was a time-waster.

“She was a nurse.

“We had just lost Libby and I didn’t know what was going on.”

In the days after her death, Mrs Instone said the family were told by the hospital that Libby could not have been saved, and only found out the truth six months later.

Susan said: “My daughter’s last few days of life were horrendous.

“Libby was in constant agony, she was scared.

“We went to hospital trusting in the people we believed would look after her but Libby was let down by doctors who were meant to take care of her.

“Libby was treated as an annoyance, a time-waster and was never shown any compassion.”

An independent medical expert found Libby had not been able to open her bowels for some days, which should have aroused suspicion among medics she did not have gastroenteritis as a usual symptom is diarrhoea.

The report found multiple chances were missed for a scan of her stomach to be undertaken, and that an operation could have successfully treated her blocked intestine.

Dr Michael Stewart, group chief medical officer for North Tees and Hartlepool and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts, told the inquest he offered “an unreserved and sincere apology for the missed opportunities in Libby’s care”.

He said there was a “degree of confirmation bias” regarding the unchanging diagnosis of gastroenteritis.

Following the coroner’s verdict of neglect, Libby’s parents Susan and Ian and brothers Joe and Alfie issued a tribute.

They said: “Our beautiful Libby was loved by everyone who knew her, but she was snatched away from us in the most brutal way because of the failings of those who were supposed to care for her.

“Why did doctors fail to examine her?

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“Why didn’t they believe her when she was suffering in horrendous pain?

“Why did they claim they couldn’t have done anything to save her when we now know she could have been saved?”

SOURCE: THE SUN

https://www.thesun.co.uk/health/39277274/student-died-agony-doctors-treated-time-waster/