'Negligence to blame for premature baby's death'
Medical investigators said on Friday that negligence played a part in the death of a premature baby in intensive care at the Prince of Wales Hospital in June.  The baby was on a ventilator and had been receiving a drug, which stopped when a three-way valve on an infusion line was closed.  A panel appointed by the hospital found that failure by a nurse to check the faulty valve was a contributory factor. Professor Fok Tai-fai, who chaired the panel, described the incident as "very rare" and said there's a need to put in place a mechanism to make sure the tubes are checked properly.   "At present, there is no specification on tactile feeling of the system at all. We also specify [in the report] the importance of checking the patency of the three-way stopcock. This again is not specified in the present guideline,” he said.  The panel added that there’s also a need to refine the equipment’s alert system.  "Also in the machine itself, there is limitation that in these kinds of very low dose, low infusion rate, there is a limitation about the timing of the occlusion. It takes half an hour or even an hour before it will alert," said the hospital’s chief executive, Chung Kin-lai.  He added that the hospital accepts and will implement the recommendations proposed by the panel.  The Coroner, meanwhile, is still investigating the exact cause of the newborn's death.