Parents imagine child died from respiration ‘diesel fumes’ at hospital

Air pollution from a hospital building site may have exacerbated a lung condition suffered by a premature baby who died at home seven months later, a coroner said.

Annie-Jo Mountcastle and her twin sister, Florence-Rose, were born almost 12 weeks prematurely, weighing 2lb 1oz and 2lb 2oz respectively, in February 2017 at Glan Clwyd Hospital in North Wales

At the time, an £18million neonatal intensive care centre was being built at the site in Bodelwyddan.

Despite Annie-Jo Mountcastle’s parents telling an inquest how there was a strong smell of fumes ‘like diesel’, John Gittins concluded that he could make ‘no association’ between the contamination on the ward and her death.

The hearing comes after Annie-Jo’s parents have spent years pushing for their concerns about the environment at the hospital to be examined.

Annie-Jo Mountcastle (pictured) was  born 12 weeks premature at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd hospital in Bodelwyddan, Wales, in February 2017 – weighing just 2lb 1oz

Despite Annie-Jo Mountcastle’s parents telling an inquest how there was a strong smell of fumes ‘like diesel’, John Gittins concluded that he could make ‘no association’ between the construction works (pictured) and her death 

‘Every time we arrived the window was open and we could smell fumes,’ her mother, Amy Dean, told the hearing in Ruthin.

‘Nurses kept saying they were opening the windows to get fresh air.

‘I kept asking for the windows to be shut.

‘We raised our concerns about the pollution entering the ward and the effect it was having on the twins.’ She claimed a nurse ‘rubbished’ their concerns.

Annie-Jo had been suffering from the chronic lung condition bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

She and her twin were discharged in April 2017, but tragically Annie-Jo died the following November at the couple’s home near Abergele after being found unresponsive.

Her father, David Mountcastle, told the hearing a window on the unit had been ‘constantly open’.

‘If not for the windows being open, my baby would have been fine,’ he said.

Two pathologists said the cause of Annie-Jo’s death was unascertained, while a hospital investigation concluded that ‘no harm’ had been caused to the babies.

Professor Sailesh Kotecha, a child health expert called by the coroner, told the inquest that there had been no issues with the twins’ care before they were discharged.

Annie-Jo’s mother believes diesel fumes from the construction work infiltrated her daughter’s incubator and ultimately led to her fatal health complications 

But Professor Jonathan Grigg, a leading paediatrician studying the effects of air pollution, said: ‘The parents’ narrative was quite compatible and plausible if you can smell diesel fumes.’

He added: ‘Knowledge of the effects of air pollution can be improved among the medical profession.’

Simon Vaughan, counsel for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which runs the hospital, said 30 per cent of premature babies developed BPD but its cause wasn’t known in this case.

Mr Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, said there was evidence that ‘contaminants’ present in the unit would have ‘placed pressure’ on Annie-Jo due to her condition.

But concluding that her death was due to natural causes, he said that while the contaminants may have resulted in ‘an exacerbation of her respiratory dysfunction’, once she was discharged her condition would have returned to its ‘baseline level’ which was ‘the result of her prematurity rather than the direct effects of a pollutant’.

‘There’s no association I can make between the contamination at Glan Clwyd and the final passing of Annie-Jo,’ he added.

He said the medical cause of death was sudden infant death syndrome but that BPD was relevant because it increased the risks.

Mr Gittins said he was reassured that new units in the hospital were air-conditioned.

Coroner John Gittins concluded that Annie-Jo’s death was due to natural causes. Pictured: Annie-Jo, right, and her sister Florence-Rose, left

Afterwards Chris Stockport, BCUHB’s executive director of transformation and strategic planning, said: ‘First and foremost I want to offer my sincerest condolences to Annie-Jo’s parents and wider family on their tragic loss in 2017.

‘We accept the coroner’s conclusion in full and thank him for his full and thorough investigation. We will look at his comments, made during the inquest, in detail.

‘I can assure the public our pursuit of providing the best possible environments for all patients, especially our most vulnerable, is a continuous process.’