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Little Girl Died After Nurse Rammed Feeding Tube To Wrong Part Of Body

By Anne Collins | Update Date: Mar 07, 2017 11:15 AM EST

Phoebe Willis, 10, died after complaining of pain during a procedure carried out by Nurse Carrie-Anne Nash. The child suffered from a rare genetic condition called cystinosis. She had to be fed through a tube that had to be changed every three or four months.

Nash, a feeding tube specialist who worked for company Nutricia, was called on by the hospital staff to change the equipment as no one else had the expertise to do so. After the procedure, little Phoebe died 48 hours later.

A hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council for misconduct deemed Nash fell significantly short of the standards expected of a registered nurse. The panel decided that she failed to respond to Phoebe's distress, which showed the tube did not fit properly.

The report said that Nash should have known from her expertise and training that those were signs and indicators of a misplaced tube. She also failed to make timely records of Phoebe's condition which put the child at unwarranted risk of harm.

The Sun reported that Nash inserted the tube into Phoebe's abdominal cavity instead of her stomach. The milk fed into the tube leaked into the hole created between Phoebe's vital organs and caused a blood infection. She suffered three cardiac arrests that resulted in brain damage and death.

The panel also raised concerns as Nash tried to justify her actions and did not show an insight into the seriousness of her failings. They fear that she was at risk of repeating the fatal error. The panel ruled the nurse should not be able to practice medicine and decided to give her an 18 months suspension.

According to Metro Phoebe lived in Locking, Somerset, with parents Julian and Heather Willis. They usually changed her feeding tube themselves, but after struggling to do so, they took her to the hospital. During and after the procedure Phoebe complained of being in pain. She was rushed to Bristol Children's Hospital where she died of peritonitis on August 26, 2012.

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