Baby's inquest finds neglect and serious failures after family's £250K battle

A coroner has recovered neglect and nonaccomplishment to supply capable aesculapian attraction contributed to the preventable decease of a baby.

Hayden Nguyen died aged six days astatine the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital successful London successful 2016.

The decision came aft his parents spent 7 years and £250,000 warring for justice.

In a statement, the infirmary said it was "committed to learning from immoderate findings to amended our practices".

Senior Coroner Richard Travers said successful his findings that Hayden had "obvious needs that were simply not met" by clinicians erstwhile his parents took him to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital successful westbound London successful August 2016.

They were acrophobic astir a fever helium had but his information rapidly deteriorated. He had a cardiac apprehension and died wrong 12 hours of arriving astatine the hospital. The attraction Hayden received, Mr Travers found, fell "very earnestly beneath expected standards" and had helium received due and timely care, helium would person survived.

An interior probe by the infirmary pursuing Hayden's decease recovered determination had been 8 errors successful the attraction he'd received, including failures to place signs of septic daze and to enactment connected abnormal trial results.

However, the archetypal inquest into Hayden's death, held astatine Westminster Coroner's Court successful 2017, concluded helium had died of earthy causes.

The coroner, Dr Shirley Radcliffe, had contacted the infirmary to rise concerns astir their investigation.

The infirmary produced a 2nd report, which halved the fig of errors recovered and said the basal origin of Hayden's decease was an corruption "which is known to person a precocious mortality".

His parents were incensed by the coroner's actions and felt they had to act. "It is the 2nd worst acquisition of my life," Hayden's begetter Tum Nguyen, 44, said of the archetypal inquest.

"Having to unrecorded with the injustice and the dishonesty has been truly difficult, which is wherefore the combat for having a 2nd inquest has not truly been a prime for us."

Obtaining a 2nd inquest required applying to the Attorney General's Office for support to spell to the High Court to inquire judges to overturn the archetypal conclusion.

In December 2021, 2 High Court judges agreed that a caller inquest should instrumentality spot "in the interests of justice".

While they did not find that the archetypal coroner, Dr Radcliffe, had behaved successful a biased manner, she was variously described by the judges arsenic being "unwise" and "close to being intemperate," with her questioning of 1 witnesser "close to the borderline betwixt robustness and unacceptability".

The BBC approached Dr Radcliffe for remark astatine the time, but she did not respond.

This 2nd inquest, which the household described arsenic being "thorough, elaborate and compassionate", took spot implicit 3 weeks astatine Surrey Coroner's Court.

The full process, including the High Court situation and ineligible fees has outgo Hayden's parents astir £250,000.

"The outgo doesn't comparison to the injustice," said Tum, a societal media executive. "So everything we did was wholly right. I deliberation it was incumbent connected america to bash it due to the fact that I bash cognize determination are different families retired determination who can't needfully spend to bash what we did."

Hayden's parent Alex, 48, who owns a bundle company, says different families whitethorn besides beryllium excessively immersed successful grief to combat for answers.

"You are trying to woody with your grief, and erstwhile negligence is involved, that adds a full other furniture that you past person to process. So for different families, it mightiness not beryllium imaginable financially, but besides it mightiness not beryllium imaginable due to the fact that of the grieving process."

The mates judge the ineligible steps they took volition let different families to reason that coroners request to enactment the bereaved household astatine the bosom of each inquest, allowing Hayden's sanction to unrecorded on.

They besides anticipation the 2nd inquest volition let them to afloat grieve the nonaccomplishment of their son. "The coroner has opened the anticipation that we tin enactment this to remainder now," said Alex.

"Having an honorable appraisal of what happened connected the nighttime [Hayden died] and seeing the bulk of the aesculapian squad progressive really beryllium accountable and admit their errors and amusement that they'd made learnings was rather healing."

Lesley Watts, main enforcement for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are profoundly atrocious for the nonaccomplishment of babe Hayden and connection our condolences to his household during this time.

"We stay committed to learning from immoderate findings to amended our practices and guarantee the highest standards of attraction for each patient."