Staff shortage led to death of paediatrician from neglect, says coroner

A retired consultant paediatrician who worked for 45 years in the NHS died of neglect on a ward at Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital in Margate, Kent, a coroner has concluded.

David Gordon-Nesbitt, 84, suffocated after a mistake with his nasogastric tube on an understaffed ward on a Saturday night. There were only three nurses on a ward with 32 patients—two agency nurses and a newly qualified nurse who was in charge. One junior doctor was on hand and another doctor was on call outside the hospital.

Gordon-Nesbitt, …