Four nurses investigated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council over death of boy, 5, at The Children’s Trust

Four nurses face a fitness probe to practice death From a 5 year old boy to a Lighthouse care house for disabled children,, The independent can reveal.

THE Nursing and midwives advice (NMC)The United Kingdom’s nursing childcare dog initially discovered that there was no case to respond to the death of Connor Wellsted, who was suffocated in his bed in 2017 while being taken care of at Children’s Trust (TCT) in Tadworth, Surrey.

The nurses were referred to the NMC in May 2022, but the guard dog then closed the investigations. He reopened the probe in November 2023 and, this month, after an investigation of 19 months, decided that the four nurses should face the physical form to practice the courts.

No provisional condition has been placed on nurses, which means that they can continue to operate while waiting for the result. If the committee notes that nurses are unfit to practice, they could be struck or suspended. However, the Committee may also decide that the ability of nurses to practice is not altered and does not give any sanction.

It comes after The independent revealed This Surrey police had reopened an investigation into the treatment of Connor’s death following a litany of failures on the care of the little boy.

Connor died at TCT, the largest rehabilitation center for brain lesions in the United Kingdom for children, who can take care of up to 66 young people, having suffocated when a bed bumper was housed under his chin. He had been there for six weeks, receiving care at the neuro-rehabilitation.

He was the first of the three disabled children to die when he was in TCT care. Raihana Oluwadamilola Awolaja and Mia Gauci-Lamport died respectively in June and September 2023.

Multiple failures have been identified in the three care of children, including non-compliance with monitoring them appropriately.

In 2022, Coroner Karen Henderson discovered that Connor died after the bed bumper, which was not properly secure, detached and obstructed its airways.

The investigation revealed that TCT “failed to keep Connor safe in his bed

Among the concerns highlighted by the investigation, the fact that Connor had “no regular or direct monitoring overnight”.

The investigation also revealed that the staff did not fully inform the police and coroner services regarding the circumstances of their death.

The police were not informed of the position in which Connor was found and that he had died for some time. They were not told that the padded bumper was initially found through his neck, the investigation learned.

The report on the prevention of future deaths indicates that the nurse and the medical director of TCT were concerned with the role that the bumper played in his death, but they did not keep a copy of his medical files nor informed the relevant statutory organizations and “undoubtedly induced” the CQC.

The pathologist was also not informed of the circumstances of his death, which prevented a post mortem exam from taking place to determine if the bed bumper played a role in the death of his death, according to the report.

‘An innocent individual’

Last month, the Coroner Fiona Wilcox published a prevention report for future deaths after the death of Raihana. The report revealed that there was a “raw failure of nursing staff” after omitting to observe it properly.

It is not known if one of the same employees took care of Connor and Raihana.

The investigation also revealed: “After Raihana’s death, TCT undertook an investigation that did not reveal what had happened or to understand the cause of his death.

TCT said the initial investigation was carried out by an external organization.

The investigation also found “problems with the credibility of another nurse (nurse two) who should have taken care of Raihana”.

Ms. Wilcox warned: “There can be a culture of concealment at TCT, in that they conducted an erroneous investigation after this incident, pushing blame on an innocent individual and thus avoiding by emphasizing systemic and learning failures and thus risking the lessons that should be learned are lost that could prevent future deaths.”

In response to the allegations of the coroner concerning the erroneous reference to the NMC, TCT said: “We accept that the initial external survey was inadequate and has not sufficiently explored the systemic factors.

“We then identified these questions and undertakes additional work to strengthen our organizational learning. The in -depth evidence presented at the Coroner during the investigation helped to clarify the events that led to Raihana’s death and allowed us to improve the way we manage and investigate incidents.

“Raihana’s death caused an important reflection, change and actions in our organization. We work hard to build a crop without blame and support our specialized staff to meet our high care standards. We have made important changes to the way we examine and respond to concerns – focusing on learning, and not on blame. ”

He said he had implemented the response to patient safety incidents (PSIRF), “which accent from individual fault to understanding wider systemic problems”.

The NMC received a copy of the report on the prevention of deaths by Raihana. In response to The independentHe said, “We are aware of the tragic death of Connor, Raihana and Mia and our thoughts are with their loved ones.

“We can confirm that we have received the prevention report for future deaths concerning Raihana’s sad death and consider the next appropriate steps.

“We are unable to confirm that if a person is the subject of an investigation in certain circumstances, which is generally if we have finished an investigation and that the cases of cases decide that there is a case of response.”

The NMC confirmed that, in the case of Connor, its case examinators decided that there was a case to respond concerning four registrants and recommended that they go to a practice committee.

The NMC faced criticisms on screening and decision -making of references.

TCT said that he had not been informed by the NMC of the decision and would not comment.