Baby inquest finds neglect and failures after family’s £250K fight | Global News Avenue

Negligence and failure to provide adequate medical care resulted in the preventable death of a baby, a coroner found.

Hayden Nguyen died at six days old in 2016 at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London.

The conclusion came after his parents spent seven years and £250,000 fighting for justice.

The hospital said in a statement it was “committed to learning from any findings to improve our practices.”

Senior coroner Richard Travers said in his findings that when Hayden’s parents took him to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in west London in August 2016, Hayden had “obvious symptoms of needs, but clinicians are simply not meeting them.”

They were worried he had a fever, but his condition quickly worsened. He suffered cardiac arrest and died within 12 hours of arriving at the hospital. Mr Travers found that the treatment Hayden received was “woefully below the standard expected” and that he would have survived if he had received appropriate and timely care.

An internal hospital investigation after Hayden’s death found eight errors in the care he received, including failing to recognize signs of septic shock and failing to act on abnormal test results.

However, an initial inquest into Hayden’s death at Westminster Coroner’s Court in 2017 concluded he died of natural causes.

Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe has contacted the hospital to express concerns about their investigation.

The hospital released a second report that halved the number of errors found and said the underlying cause of Hayden’s death was an infection “known to have a high mortality rate.”

His parents were outraged by the coroner’s actions and felt they had to take action. “This was the second worst experience of my life,” Hayden’s father Tum Nguyen, 44, said of the first interrogation.

“It’s really difficult to have to live with injustice and dishonesty, which is why we didn’t really choose to push for a second inquiry.”

To obtain a second investigation, you need to apply to the Attorney General’s Office for permission to go to the High Court and ask a judge to overturn the original conclusion.

In December 2021, two High Court judges agreed that a new investigation should be held “in the interests of justice”.

While they did not find the conduct of the original coroner, Dr Radcliffe, to be prejudicial, the judges variously described her as “ill-advised” and “bordering on indulgence” and that her questioning of one witness “bordered on indulgence”. The line between robustness and unacceptability”.

The BBC contacted Dr Radcliffe for comment at the time but she did not respond.

The second inquest took three weeks at Surrey Coroner’s Court and was described by family members as “thorough, detailed and compassionate”.

The entire process, including the High Court challenge and legal fees, cost Hayden’s parents around £250,000.

“The cost doesn’t compare to the injustice,” said Thum, the social media executive. “So everything we’re doing is absolutely the right thing to do. I think we have a responsibility to do it because I do know there are other families out there who can’t necessarily afford what we do.”

Hayden’s mother Alex, 48, who owns a software company, said other families may also be grieving and unable to seek answers.

“You’re trying to deal with your grief and when it comes to neglect it adds an extra layer that you have to deal with. So for other families it may not be possible financially, but it may also be because of And Unachievable: The Grief Process.”

The couple believe the legal steps they have taken will enable other families to argue that coroners need to put families at the heart of every inquest to keep Hayden’s name alive.

They also hope the second inquest will allow them to fully immerse themselves in the grief of losing their son. Alex said: “The coroner has raised the possibility that we can now bring closure to this matter.”

“It’s quite healing to have an honest assessment of what happened that night (Hayden’s death) and to see most of the medical team involved actually take responsibility, admit their mistakes and show they’ve learned their lessons. of.”

Lesley Watts, chief executive of Chelsea and Westminster Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are deeply sorry to hear the death of baby Hayden and would like to express our condolences to his family at this time. .

“We remain committed to learning from any findings to improve our practice and ensure the highest standard of care for every patient.”