Tunbridge Wells nurse describes ‘chaotic’ night baby died

The night a baby died with an undiagnosed heart condition in a Kent hospital was “quite chaotic”, a court has been told.

Head nurse Ronald Carrido was giving evidence at an inquest into the death of seven month-old Tommy Kneebone on 21 January, 2023, at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Pembury, Kent.

Mr Carrido told the inquest he called for consultant help “when there was no improvement in Tommy, when he was deteriorating”.

The boy’s mother, Shanice Kneebone, previously told Kent and Medway Coroner’s Court in Maidstone that “no-one took her concerns seriously” at the hospital.

At the hearing on Wednesday, his parents also heard from the consultant on duty that night.

Breaking down in tears, Doctor Chhaya Patankar told the inquest when she went into his room at 19:00 GMT, Tommy looked at her with “such bright, beautiful eyes”.

The paediatric consultant said she examined him, listened to his heartbeat and checked his liver.

Tommy “responded like any baby would do,” she said.

Dr Patankar said the baby had mild respiratory distress, which “fitted with” what she had been told.

“But there was a lack of the broader picture,” she said.

Tommy’s parents first noticed he had a cough when they returned from a holiday abroad in October 2022.

The court previously heard Ms Kneebone had taken him to a GP and A&E several times before his death without his underlying cardiomyopathy being identified.

Tommy died at 04:20 on 21 January.

The inquest continues.