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The 10 key failings
A recent review of heart services at the hospital by NHS England looked into the deaths of 16 children, including Luke and Sean, and found parents had been failed. The ombudsman’s report, collated by nine experts, into Luke’s death in 2012 concluded his mum Faye and dad Stephen Jenkins, 33, had been misled and doctors had failed to act quickly enough to save the boy’s life. The ombudsman ordered University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust to write an apology to the parents and acknowledge “openly and honestly” the failings identified in its report. Faye said: “Privately the hospital acknowledge Luke should have survived because we have got them on tape admitting it. But they won’t admit publicly their poor care killed him.” She and Stephen have lodged documents with the High Court. Faye said: “Their offer to settle the case was totally insulting. But this has never been about the 1 Parents Stephen Jenkins and Faye Valentine were misled about Ward 32 being a high-dependency ward. 2 It was wrong not to admit Luke to a pediatric intensive care unit on April 2, 2012. 3 Doctors failed to recognise the significance of clinical findings on April 2 that indicated significant deterioration and a haemothorax, in which blood pools between chest wall and lung. 4 There was a lack of surgical review in the days after Luke’s haemothorax. 5 Doctors frequently did not adjust Luke’s blood-thinning drugs so the treatment was within the right range. 6 Doctors failed to do a daily blood count between March 31 and April 2 and there was inadequate communication about an abnormal blood result. 7 Nurses consistently failed to recognise signs of Luke’s deterioration on Ward 32. 8 Luke was not seen by an outreach nurse until 48 hours after surgery. 9 Nurses failed to take appropriate action when Luke’s pleural drain moved on April 1 and when he had a cardiac arrest on April 6. 10 There was poor record-keeping by nurses, including logging pain and fluid management. money and we’ve always said what we wanted was the truth about what happened.”
Trust medical director Dr Sean O’Kelly said: “We are deeply sorry for failings in care and treatment that Luke received and that we compounded his family’s grief by giving incorrect and incomplete information in response to their subsequent complaint.
“We have written to Luke’s parents to apologise for this and extend condolences.”