Bosses at the Prince of Wales Hospital admitted on Friday that staff could have failed to carry out proper checks on equipment being used to treat a premature baby who died in the intensive care unit this week.

The baby, who has a twin, was born after 27 weeks of gestation and was put on a ventilator and given drugs because of low blood pressure.

But a valve on the machine delivering the drugs was closed meaning nothing was getting through.

It wasn't until 50 minutes after the baby's medication was adjusted that staff got an alert warning them of the valve issue, the hospital said. It added that the infusion was resumed, but the baby's condition later deteriorated and the child died.

At a press briefing, hospital bosses bowed and apologised.

Chief executive Chung Kin-lai said the hospital will shoulder all the necessary responsibility, adding that it has reached out to the infant's parents, who he said are "still in very deep sorrow".

"I have sincerely apologised to them for what they experienced in this hospital. We will support them and provide clinical psychology support for them. We try our best to support and show our sincerity. But whether they accept or not, it's the next question," he said.

Chung said they would not make any excuses for what happened, but it might not have been easy to spot that the valve was closed, given that the baby was connected to multiple tubes.

He said the hospital has now put down "in black and white" requirements for checking the valves of infusion tubes.

A panel investigating the incident will submit a report to the Hospital Authority within eight weeks. It's headed by a former dean of the Chinese University's medical faculty, Professor Fok Tai-fai.

Chung added that it's too early to conclude what exactly caused the tragedy.

"It's not that simple. We can't describe it as a simple human error. We need to really look into different elements... we will look into the procedures, policies of nursing on how they change these kinds of tubes and drips to the patient," he said.

Chung said the four medics involved in the baby's care are "emotionally upset" and are now on leave.

The two nurses have more than 20 years of experience, and the two doctors who helped out in the resuscitation process have been taking care of newborns for over a decade, Chung said.
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Last updated: 2023-06-16 HKT 21:17