Hospital guilty of neglect after toddler died while waiting for surgery

A TODDLER who died while waiting for an emergency operation after doctors told his parents that no beds were available was a victim of hospital neglect, an inquest has found.

The coroner said medics at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital were guilty of a “gross failure” as 20-monthold Kayden Urmston-bancroft faced an “unacceptable delay” of his surgery.

Kayden was admitted on April 12, 2016 for an operation on a diaphragmatic hernia. He had a cardiac arrest three days later and died on April 17.

Manchester coroner Angharad Davies ruled that Kayden died of natural causes, contributed to by neglect. She identified missed opportunities to perform the surgery and said there were “a number of serious and basic failings which meant Kayden was not operated on that week”.

Kayden, of Stockport, had been transferred from Stepping Hill Hospital and put on a list of patients requiring emergency surgery. But his notes said there was no bed available in the hospital’s high dependency unit (HDU), so he was not able to have the operation.

The notes said his mother, Shannon Bancroft, was “very upset” at the delay, but Kayden’s consultant had told her he remained well.

However, a report compiled after Kayden’s death showed a bed was not requested for him until midday on April 15, and records showed there had been three available that day.

Consultant Mohamed Shoukry had thought the bed for Kayden had been taken. But Ms Davies said: “It is inexplicable to me why Mr Shoukry was under the impression that there was no HDU bed available on Friday [April 15].” She said there had also been “confusion” over which consultant had responsibility for Kayden’s care.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust said: “We offer our sincere condolences to Kayden’s family and profound apologies for the lapse in standards which led to his death.”