Incorrect gas fitting behind NSW baby death

A newborn baby has died after it was given nitrous oxide instead of oxygen in hospital.

She said investigations were being conducted by the Health Ministry, the NSW coroner’s office and BOC Limited, which installed the gas outlet in July past year.

A devastating error at a southwestern Sydney hospital has left one baby dead and another seriously affected, the NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner has confirmed.

The babies, born in June and July, were treated with nitrous oxide incorrectly dispensed from an oxygen outlet in the hospital’s neonatal resuscitation unit, NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner said in a statement.

When inhaled, nitrous oxide gives a feeling of euphoria and relaxation, making it an increasingly popular recreational drug in recent years.

“I am profoundly sorry for the families of a newborn who died and another newborn who was severely affected”, Ms Skinner said in a statement.

The installation mistake was found after a paediatrician raised concerns about the death of one of the babies, ABC reports.

Senior hospital staff met with the families of the two babies over the weekend to disclose the facts of the case.

However, Ms Skinner said she would not be resigning over the error, and defended her decision to attend the Helpmann theatre awards on Monday evening, as the news was breaking.

The hospital has shut down the operation theatre with the faulty machine, while the hospital’s seven other theatres have been checked and deemed safe.

South Western Sydney Local Health District has launched an investigation to find out if hospital staff followed rules that may have uncovered the installation error a year ago.

BOC says it is extremely saddened by the incident and is working hard to identify the exact cause of the tragedy.

“As soon as BOC was notified of the situation we cooperated fully with all investigations being undertaken by the NSW Government – the Hospital, the NSW Coroner, and the Ministry of Health teams”.

She also said that “every medical gas outlet in a NSW Health facility commissioned in our term of government” would be checked.

“We deeply regret that these families are suffering pain and sorrow”, the statement said.

Opposition Health minister Walt Secord said Ms Skinner should launch an independent review and publicly release the findings.