The parents of a baby boy, who died a day before his first birthday, have received an
apology and
substantial compensation from Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup.
The baby was born at Queen Mary’s Hospital with a
benign growth on his liver. He was transferred to King’s College Hospital where he eventually had a
liver transplant and an ileostomy. He needed help with his breathing with a
ventilator and had a
tracheostomy breathing tube in his throat.
After leaving intensive care he was able to breath unaided through his tracheostomy tube with some additional oxygen. He condition had stabilised enough for him to be transferred back to Queen Mary’s with a view to being allowed home for the first time.
However, a week before his 1st birthday his parents were told that he had stopped breathing. He was resuscitated and transferred back to King’s College Hospital where it was found that he had suffered irreversible brain damage due to a cardiac arrest. He died a few days later.
An inquest into his death returned a verdict of
accidental death contributed to by neglect.
The only explanation for the baby’s sudden decline and resulting cardiac arrest was that his
breathing tube had become blocked. This happened because the tube had not been regularly cleaned and he was left unattended for at least 30 minutes, despite having a specially funded nurse to monitor him constantly. The monitoring of the tube to keep the airway clear is basic nursing care.
The boy’s parents were extremely traumatised by the events including the attempts to resuscitate him. They have both suffered from
psychiatric problems as a result and the baby’s father has been unable to work.
The hospital admitted liability for the child’s death and apologised to his parents for ‘the shortcomings in the care provided to your son … and for the distress you have suffered since [his] tragic death’.
Their case settled out of court. The parents received a significant amount of compensation for the death of a child, the largest proportion being for loss of earnings and their psychiatric injury.
The parents were represented by clinical negligence specialist
Maria Panteli. For more information please contact Maria on 020 7650 1200.
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