Report finds baby death at Bristol Children's Hospital due to "catalogue of failings"
Multiple failures contributed to the death of Ben Condon, according to the ombudsman's report
A new report says a "catalogue of failings" contributed to the death of eight-week-old Ben Condon in Bristol.
Ben died at Bristol Children's Hospital in April 2015 after a respiratory infection.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has spent four years investigating the care Ben received - after being prompted by his parents Allyn and Jenny Condon.
The ombudsman's report found that doctors were aware of Ben's deterioration on the day he died. However, the report says they "did not provide him with the treatment he needed as promptly as they should have done".
The report revealed a series of failings, including doctors not communicating to Ben's parents about his treatment and overall condition.
Mr Condon said: "We hope that the truth of what happened to Ben will now, finally, be clearer and that we are closer to getting the justice we have fought so hard for.
"Our constant desire has been to ensure that what happened to Ben does not happen to another child."
The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust have previously admitted their failure to give Ben antibiotics at the correct time contributed to his death.
Since new details have emerged concerning Ben's care, his parents are looking to order a fresh inquest and hold accountable all parties involved.
The sudden changes in Ben's condition
Ben was born at 29 weeks, weighing just under 3lb. He spent six weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit at Southmead Hospital in Bristol.
Two days later Ben, who weighed just 5lbs, began coughing and sneezing. When his condition worsened, he was transferred to Bristol Children's Hospital where doctors diagnosed Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV).
hMPV is like the common cold in adults and while most children with the virus make a full recovery but, Ben's condition worsened.
He passed away following two cardiac arrests on 17 April.
A series of revelations
Seven weeks after Ben died, the trust revealed that he had a secondary bacterial infection.
Though doctors didn't administer antibiotics to the boy until an hour before his death.
A few months after Ben's death, in a meeting with senior clinicians at the hospital, Allyn and Jenny were told that blood tests taken the day before his death were negative for bacterial infection. Though tests taken on the day he died were positive.
At Ben's inquest in June 2016, clinicians for the trust claimed that the infection and its management bore no relevance to his death.
Motivated by the ombudsman's report, Allyn and Jenny have applied to the Attorney General for permission to ask the High Court to overrule the original inquest verdict and order a fresh inquest.
Novum Law lawyer Mary Smith, who represents the Condon family, said: "Hospital trusts and those working for them should be open and honest with families from the outset.
"It cannot be right that bereaved families are put through further significant trauma by having to battle to uncover for themselves what happened to their loved one."