Student, 20, died in agony after hospital staff 'ignored her so they could watch Women's World Cup'

A 20-year-old student died in agony after hospital staff allegedly ignored her to watch the Women's World Cup.

Libby Instone, from Billingham, Teesside, died in August 2023 after three visits to an urgent care centre - where doctors repeatedly diagnosed her with gastroenteritis.

The Newcastle University student, who wanted to become a barrister, actually had a blocked intestine that could have been treated with surgery.

Her mother Susan Instone told an inquest that staff were preoccupied with the football on TV rather than caring for her daughter.

Libby had been fit and healthy before returning from a trip to London with her boyfriend on August 16, when she began vomiting and experiencing severe pain.

Her mother called 111 two days later and brought her to North Tees Hospital Urgent Care Centre, where she was prescribed anti-sickness medication without being examined.

The family returned that evening, and a doctor diagnosed gastroenteritis before placing her on a saline drip.

She was discharged at 1.30am, only to vomit "black liquid" in the car park.

"A female member of staff then came up to me and told me that they had just thought she was a time-waster," her mother said.

The family brought Libby back to the urgent care centre at 2.30pm as she was "totally exhausted and very weak".

After speaking with staff, they decided to take her to A&E, where they waited as many as nine hours to be seen.

Her parents visited the ward the following day and claimed staff were watching a Women's World Cup penalty shoot-out on television.

MORE FROM THE NHS:

• NHS could be flooded with lawsuits from female staff over trans women using single-sex toilets
• Mother left 'sickened' after NHS grafts bone from dead person into daughter's mouth without consent
• Brain surgeon sues NHS for £200k after hospital lift plunges four floors with him trapped inside

Libby was later allowed home but continued feeling unwell.

"She said she was scared and asked if she was going to die," her mother told the inquest. "I laughed and told her not to be daft."

Minutes later, Libby collapsed and paramedics were called, but she could not be saved.

An independent medical expert found that Libby had been unable to open her bowels for several days, which should have alerted doctors that she did not have gastroenteritis, as diarrhoea is a typical symptom.

The report concluded that multiple opportunities were missed to scan her stomach, and surgery could have successfully treated her condition.

Dr Michael Stewart, group chief medical officer for the NHS trusts, offered "an unreserved and sincere apology for the missed opportunities in Libby's care".

Coroner Clare Bailey said the hospital's "failure to consider anything other than gastroenteritis" amounted to "gross failures in her care".

The coroner accepted that procedures have since improved at the trust.