Family walks out of inquest after coroner rejects malnutrition in hospital death

18 June 2025, 19:08

A family walked out of an inquest after a coroner said there was not enough evidence to support claims a mother starved to death in hospital while being treated for abdominal pains.

Claire Boyd, 41, died at Swindon’s Great Western Hospital from complications following surgery for long-term abdominal problems.

Her family – partner Kevin Boyd and son, Callum Boyd – believe malnutrition played a part in her death.

Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner’s Court heard Ms Boyd underwent an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedure in October 2021 at the University College Hospital in London.

She suffered “significant complications” and developed severe pancreatitis and an abdominal abscess.

That led to a further operation to remove in excess of 80% of her bowel, the inquest was told.

There was also an issue with the administration of anticoagulation drugs, which was later the subject of a formal complaint by the family to the hospital.

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Ms Boyd was discharged from the hospital in the following January and returned home to Devizes, Wiltshire.

The following month, the mother-of-two was admitted to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, where she died in May 2022.

Her cause of death was given as multi-organ failure contributed by sepsis, intestinal failure, mesenteric infarction, an abdominal abscess, an enteric fistula and pancreatitis.

Expert witness Anjan Banerjee, a consultant gastroenterologist, was instructed by the coroner to give evidence on whether malnutrition “more than minimally” contributed to Ms Boyd’s death.

He said that, in his opinion, multi-organ failure developed from the sepsis that had set in from the post-operative complications Ms Boyd suffered.

“Both the common root of all of that is the pancreatitis and the localised perforation from that ERCP, that was probably the sequence of events that happened,” he said.

David Ridley, the senior coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, said the evidence was not strong enough for him to find that malnutrition contributed to the death of Ms Boyd.

Addressing the Boyd family, he said: “Now I know something that you feel very strongly about but I have to look at what the evidence is before me, and I will be very specific in relation to my understanding and questioning of Mr Banerjee and his evidence.

“At best, Mr Banerjee says it is ‘possibly’. Possibly is not the same as probably, it falls below that standard.

“I’m not proposing to exercise my discretion here to start looking into issues associated with malnutrition. In my view, that would be disproportionate and unreasonable.”

The family had also raised their concerns about the drugs error and whether that contributed to Ms Boyd’s death.

In reply, Mr Ridley said the hospital had been candid about the error, but it was not a contributory factor in her death.

Ms Boyd’s son told the coroner: “It has taken three years since my mum passed, and I am still having to think about it.

“I have lost a mum at the end of the day and you guys are just playing with a life, you don’t seem to want to care.

“At the end of the day, my mum has gone, and nothing will bring her back.”

Mr Ridley replied: “I regret that you don’t feel this is a useful process, but it is not a public inquiry.”

Ms Boyd’s partner told the coroner: “We have been waiting for answers from the two hospitals for many, many years. We are not getting anywhere.

“We’re leaving.”

At that point, they left the hearing, and it continued without them.

Following their departure, Mr Ridley said: “They feel that this is not a process they want to participate in anymore, which is entirely a matter for them.

“But the bottom line is for the record, I have to manage this process and be seen to be fair to everybody.”

Recording a narrative conclusion, Mr Ridley said the evidence relating to Ms Boyd has “fairly been quite consistent throughout”.

“Claire had a history of significant abdominal pain, underwent investigations, but ultimately elected to be the subject of an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography that was carried out in London in October 2021,” he said.

“I totally understand that this was very much a challenging case to manage. I have to say that my view was that the outcome was unlikely to be a positive one.

“I do not, for the avoidance of any doubt, find that malnutrition was a contributory factor in relation to Claire’s death.

“That’s based on the evidence and at the very best, it only possibly contributed, and even then, only minimally contributed to the death.”