Parents 'not told of swabs taken from deceased baby'

Hospital staff took swabs from a baby boy after his death and sent them for analysis despite telling his parents a post-mortem was unnecessary, an inquest has heard.

Ben Condon, who was born prematurely, was two months old when he died at Bristol Children's Hospital on 17 April 2015, six days after being admitted with breathing difficulties.

An inquest in 2016 initially recorded his cause of death as two acute respiratory illnesses and prematurity, but this was quashed by the High Court after new evidence emerged.

Ben's parents Allyn and Jenny have said they would not have cremated their son if they knew there were questions over his illness.

A fresh inquest at Avon Coroner's Court previously heard that Ben had developed a pseudomonas bacterial infection before his condition deteriorated and he died having suffered two cardiac arrests.

On Tuesday, the coroner was told a document revealed concerns about a possible infection on 15 April - two days before Ben's death.

It was only disclosed to family lawyers shortly before the beginning of the second inquest.

The document showed that a blood test marked "urgent" had been ordered for Ben on that date, with "query sepsis" listed as the reason for the test.

A doctor involved in Ben's care was asked why he had felt "confident" to record his death as respiratory illness and prematurity, given concerns that Ben may have developed a secondary infection.

Dr Matthew Christopherson said: "It was the sequence of events.

"He presented with (metapneumovirus), if he hadn't had that, he wouldn't have become sick, he wouldn't have developed (acute respiratory distress syndrome) and the subsequent complications of that."

He added that he was not aware of results identifying the infection at the time of Ben's death.

When asked about the death certificate, he replied: "The culture at the time was to complete, where we felt able to, the administrative sides of a child's death.

"This is because we recognised that the death of a child is tragic. The aim was to minimise as much distress as possible."

Dr Christopherson said he was unaware that any swabs had been taken from Ben's body, adding: "The last time I saw Ben was with Mr and Mrs Condon as I left the department that evening."

Ben's parents have accused University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust of orchestrating a cover up over their son's death, and have campaigned hard for a second inquest.

Mr Condon said in a written statement: "Losing a child is a tragedy in any circumstances,"

"But in this case, that tragedy has been compounded by the fact that we have at all stages been faced with a failure to be transparent and straightforward about the circumstances that led up to Ben's death."

The trust has previously admitted a failure to give Ben timely antibiotics for the infection had contributed to his death.

The inquest continues.

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