Law student died after doctors dismissed her as a time-waster
Law student died after doctors dismissed her as a time-waster
Telegraph reportersMon, June 1, 2026 at 9:45 PM UTC
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Libby Instone, of Billingham, Teesside, was reading law at the University of Newcastle
A law student died after medics dismissed her as a “time-waster”, an inquest has 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 in August 2023.
She had been vomiting for days before she finally collapsed and died.
Clare Bailey, the senior coroner for Teesside, 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 that neglect contributed to her death.
“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.
This crisis was compounded by infrequent physical checks, incorrect recording of vomiting and a lack of basic care, Ms Bailey said.
Ms Instone died as a result of an infarction of her small intestine
Recording a narrative conclusion, the coroner said Ms Instone repeatedly visited North Tees Hospital Urgent Care Centre (UCC) in Stockton and was later admitted to hospital before being discharged home, later suffering a cardiac arrest.
“There were missed opportunities to investigate the cause of her persistent abdominal pain and vomiting, and to provide life-saving treatment,” she said. “Libby’s death was contributed to by neglect.”
Susan Instone, 57, her mother, told the inquest in a statement 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 Ms Instone continuing to retch, the worried mother rang 111 on Aug 18 and took her daughter to UCC where she was prescribed anti-sickness drugs but was not examined, she said.
Her daughter, whom 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 Ms Instone had gastroenteritis and was put on a saline drip.
Mrs Instone, who attended the inquest with Ms Instone’s father, Ian Instone, said her daughter was again sent home at 1.30am on Saturday, Aug 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 Ms Instone to an accident and emergency unit and started the waiting process again.
Mrs Instone said they had waited for about nine hours for her daughter to be seen, and a nurse had put her on a drip, and she had been given painkillers and anti-sickness medication.
Libby Instone repeatedly sought treatment in an urgent care centre and later died
Ms Instone was admitted to a ward that night and, the next day, her parents visited her but claimed staff were preoccupied by watching a penalty shoot-out in the Women’s World Cup on TV.
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Mrs Instone said she visited her daughter with her husband, and they did not know where she was on the ward, saying in her statement: “All the staff were at the nurses’ station watching the Women’s World Cup final. It was penalties, and all the nurses were stood around the telly.
“We asked if they could tell us where Libby was and someone said, ‘You won’t get any sense out of them until this has ended’.”
Mrs Instone claimed it took 15 to 20 minutes before they got the staff’s attention, once the shoot-out had ended.
Later that day, Ms Instone was allowed to go home, and she still felt so ill that she was carried back to bed after she had sat with her family for a while, her mother said.
Mrs Instone tried to feed her tomato soup, which she could not manage.
Her mother 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, Ms Instone collapsed, and paramedics were called.
Ms Instone’s family said she had been deemed a ‘time-waster’ by medical professionals before she died
Ms Instone 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, the family said they were told by the hospital that Ms Instone could not have been saved, and they only found out the truth six months later.
An independent medical expert found that Ms Instone 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 diarrhoea is a usual symptom.
Chances missed for a scan
The report found that multiple chances were missed for a scan of her stomach to be done, 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”.
The coroner accepted that procedures had improved at the trust.
A spokesman from North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our sincere condolences remain with her family, friends and loved ones during this difficult time. We accept the findings of the inquest today. We apologise to her family and continue to offer support to all involved.
“A thorough review of the circumstances surrounding this case has identified shortcomings in the care provided to Libby and her family.”
Source: “AOL Breaking”
