A NURSE accused of neglecting babies on a neonatal intensive care unit did not respond well to offers of support, it was claimed.

Philippa Ralph is alleged to have left seriously ill babies wearing wet clothes, soiled nappies and covered in vomit.

She is also accused of inserting a feeding tube into Baby A’s stomach when it was already full and of letting another baby go blue through lack of oxygen.

The neglect is said to have happened between February and July 2008 at the neonatal intensive care unit at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

Ralph has admitted administering a baby’s medicine nine hours late on one occasion and of mistakenly informing staff that another was being given one litre rather than 0.1 litres of oxygen.

But she appeared at the Nursing and Midwifery Council to deny all the other allegations which relate to five babies in her care.

Ruksana Patel, Ralph’s mentor at the time of the alleged incident involving Baby A, told the hearing she became involved the day after the alleged feeding tube incident.

She said: “One of the staff nurses informed me that Baby A’s mother wanted to speak to me because she had concerns.

“I attended the room where the baby and mother were and mum looked quite distressed.

“She informed me that a nurse had looked after her baby on the previous day and that she was unhappy with what had happened.”

Mrs Patel said she had received an account of events first from the mum and then the dad. Both relayed a similar version, she added, claiming their baby had taken all but 10 millilitres of milk from a bottle when Ralph reinserted the tube.

“Knowing the baby had already had a substantial amount of feed, to pass a feeding tube would cause the baby to be sick,' she said.

"There was a high risk that a baby could aspirate, which means the milk could go down into the lungs.

“As a qualified nurse, you should be aware of that.”

Mrs Patel said Ralph did not respond well to her and others’ attempts at support.

“She did not feel she wanted the same support as some of the other more newly qualified nurses,” she said.

“She was actually, if anything, quite annoyed when we tried to give her the support she needed.”

The hearing continues.