Apparently the doctors expected Alfie would die within minutes of respirator removal.
At best, they suffered cognitive dissonance from the boy living when they absolutely expected him to die.
They did not have a backup plan in place.
That’s criminal negligence.
A more likely scenario. They could then claim to be innocent targets of the baying crowd outside while also claiming to have engineered a humane outcome. Imagine their shock and nerves when the damned patient hung on to life in spite of them.