05 October 2017
Chief Executive of University Hospitals Bristol apologises to the parents of Ben Condon and accepts there were failings in his care
Today Robert Woolley, the Chief Executive of University
Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, has written to the parents
of Ben Condon to accept that failure to give timely antibiotics to
their son Ben contributed to his death and to say how sorry he
is.
Robert Woolley, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Bristol
NHS Foundation Trust, said: "I would like to publicly apologise to
Mr and Mrs Condon. We failed to take the opportunity to give
Ben timely antibiotics and this contributed to his death. I am also
deeply sorry for the additional distress and hurt caused by the
wait Mr and Mrs Condon have endured before receiving this
explanation."
Ben was admitted to the children's intensive care unit on 11
April 2015 and sadly died on 17 April 2015. Ben's case has been a
highly complex one to resolve. He was a premature baby who had been
in hospital for much of his short life, and sadly died due to the
serious complications of a viral infection which included a
secondary bacterial infection.
Earlier this year, Mr Condon brought a claim for clinical
negligence against the Trust on his son's behalf, based on the
failure to give Ben antibiotics on 16 April 2015. As a result
of this claim the Trust has extensively reviewed again the
circumstances of Ben's death, including obtaining additional and
further clinical and expert evidence and advice.
Following this thorough reappraisal of the circumstances of
Ben's death, the Trust believes that it missed an opportunity to
provide Ben with timely antibiotics and that this failure
contributed to his death.
Much of the reason for the delay in clarifying the Trust's
position is because medical experts have a range of different views
on whether and when antibiotics should have been given to Ben.
There has not been a clear-cut consistent medical opinion, as can
happen with very complex cases. The issue of whether and when to
administer antibiotics continues to be part of a wider medical
debate and ultimately this comes down to individual clinical
judgement. There will be those clinicians who decide to administer
antibiotics and those in a similar situation who will not. This has
added to the challenge of determining what should have happened in
Ben's treatment and care, compared to what did happen.
Robert Woolley continued: "I would also like to reiterate how
very sorry I am that Mr and Mrs Condon were not supported
appropriately after Ben's death. We made serious mistakes
communicating with them and, as a result, we lost their trust."
The Trust acknowledges it will offer little comfort to Ben's
parents but the review of Ben's case has led it to make several
improvements both in clinical care and in how it communicates and
engages with bereaved families.
Dr Bryony Strachan, Clinical Chair for the Division of Women and
Children's Services, said: "Ben's sad death continues to have a
devastating impact on his family and we are truly sorry about
this. We accept that we missed the opportunity to give Ben
timely antibiotics and that contributed to his death. We also
know that the way we responded to Ben's parents at times added to
their distress and we are very sorry for that. We hope that they
can take some comfort that we have learnt lessons from this and
that we have already made changes and improvements in light of
their and Ben's experience in our care."
BACK TO NEWS
