Couple’s two sons placed in foster care after X-ray error

AN INFANT and his older brother were wrongly taken into care after an X-ray mistake led to their parents being investigated by social workers.

Officials at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Denbighshire issued an apology after the boys, aged eight months and three years, were placed into foster care for eight days after the error.

Workers raised the alarm after the younger boy was taken to hospital when he rolled off his bed at home causing a fracture in his right leg.

Radiologists carried out an X-ray and diagnosed a further three fractures in his right arm and one in his left leg, which led doctors to raise safeguarding concerns.

The boy and his brother were taken away by social services and later sent to live with their grandparents.

According to media reports, the parents were arrested but were exonerated after the X-ray was examined by specialists at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.

A paediatric radiologist determined just one fracture had been found described as “commonly seen due to accidental trips”, while the others were down to natural bone growth and a visual blur on the X-ray.

Following an investigation the children were reunited with their parents after being separated for 15 days in October 2020. Speaking to the BBC, the boys’ mother, who did not want to be named, told how she took six months off work and has since changed her role to help manage her stress.

Gill Harris, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s deputy chief executive, said: “I would like to take this opportunity once more to apologise to the family involved in this complex and

‘Our duty as a healthcare provider must always be to put children’s wellbeing at the centre of what we do’

heart-rending case for what they have been through.

“I cannot begin to imagine what they had to experience. I extend my heartfelt sympathies to them.

“However our duty as a healthcare provider must always be to put children’s wellbeing at the centre of what we do in such circumstances.”

She added: “Every health board member of staff involved in this case has genuine sympathy for the trauma this family went through but we always strive to act in the best interests of the child.”