Law student Libby Instone had been vomiting for days when she finally collapsed and died in August 2023 as he mum claims she was told medics thought her daughter was a “time-waster”
The mum a normally fit and healthy law student who died in agonising pain claims she was told medics thought she was “time-waster” after multiple visits to hospital, an inquest heard.
Libby Instone, 20, from Billingham, Teesside, was told she had gastroenteritis during three visits to an urgent care centre in just over 24 hours. She had been vomiting for days when she finally collapsed and died in August 2023.
Teesside Coroner Clare Bailey, sitting in Middlesbrough, was told the Newcastle University student, who hoped to become a barrister, died as a result of an infarction of her small intestine.
Libby’s mother Susan Instone, 57, told the inquest in a statement that she had just lost her daughter when she claims a nurse told her “they had just thought that she was a time-waster”. On another occasion in hospital, Ms Instone claims staff were pre-occupied watching a penalty shoot-out in the Women’s World Cup on TV.
Teesside Coroner Clare Bailey, sitting in Middlesbrough, was told the Newcastle University student, who hoped to become a barrister, died as a result of an infarction of her small intestine. And the coroner found neglect contributed to Libby’s death.
She said neglect findings in inquests were limited to cases where there had been gross failure to provide basic medical attention to someone in a dependent position. She said it was not for inquests for criticise “every twist and turn” of a patient’s treatment.
“In Libby’s case, the failure to consider anything other than gastroenteritis despite Libby enduring four days of vomiting and agonising abdominal pain constitutes gross failures in her care,” the coroner said.
Mrs Instone told the inquest that her daughter had returned from a trip to London with her boyfriend on Wednesday August 16 when she began vomiting and was in extreme pain.
With Libby continuing to retch, Mrs Instone rang 111 on August 18 and took her daughter to North Tees Hospital Urgent Care Centre (UCC), where she was prescribed anti-sickness drugs but was not examined, she said.
Her daughter, who she said was usually fit and energetic, was sent home, but her concerned family took her back to the UCC that evening where a doctor said Libby had gastroenteritis and was put on a saline drip.
Mrs Instone, who attended the inquest with Libby’s father Ian, said her daughter was again sent home at 1.30am on Saturday, August 19, only for her to vomit “black liquid” in the car park.
Her parents took her back to the UCC at 2.30pm that day as she was “totally exhausted and very weak”, her mother said.
After discussion with a member of staff at the UCC, the family decided to take Libby to an accident and emergency unit and started the waiting process again.
Mrs Instone said they waited for around nine hours for Libby to be seen and a nurse put her on a drip and she was given painkillers and anti-sickness medication.
Libby was admitted to a ward that night, and the next day her parents visited her but claimed staff were pre-occupied watching a penalty shoot-out in the Women’s World Cup on TV.
Later that day, Mrs Instone said Libby was allowed to go home but that she continued to feel so unwell, she was carried back to bed after she had sat with the family for a while.
Her mother tried to feed her tomato soup, which she could not manage.
Mrs Instone said: “She said she was scared and asked if she was going to die. I laughed and told her not to be daft.”
Minutes later, Libby collapsed and paramedics were called.
Libby was taken to hospital but could not be saved, the inquest heard.
Mrs Instone said: “A female member of staff then came up to me and told me that they had just thought that she was a time-waster. She was a nurse.
“We had just lost Libby and I didn’t know what was going on.”
In the days after her death, Mrs Instone said the family were told by the hospital that Libby could not have been saved, and only found out the truth six months later.
Mrs Instone said: “My daughter’s last few days of life were horrendous.
“Libby was in constant agony, she was scared. We went to hospital trusting in the people we believed would look after her but Libby was let down by doctors who were meant to take care of her.
“Libby was treated as an annoyance, a time-waster and was never shown any compassion.”
An independent medical expert, instructed by the coroner, found that Libby had not been able to open her bowels for some days and that should have aroused suspicion among medics that she did not have gastroenteritis, as a usual symptom was diarrhoea.
The report found that multiple chances were missed for a scan of her stomach to be undertaken, and that an operation could have successfully treated her blocked intestine.
Dr Michael Stewart, group chief medical officer for North Tees and Hartlepool and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts, told the inquest he offered “an unreserved and sincere apology for the missed opportunities in Libby’s care”.
He said there was a “degree of confirmation bias” regarding the unchanging diagnosis of gastroenteritis.
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