A double Olympian and his wife whose baby died following a ‘catalogue of hospital failures’ have spoken of their ‘ten year hell to get to the truth’ as they prepare for his second inquest.
Allyn and Jenny Condon have campaigned tirelessly to get justice for their son, Ben, who died when he was eight weeks old.
He was admitted to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in April 2015 with what staff described as a ‘cold’ but seven days later he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.
The fresh inquest into his death while under the care of University Hospital Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust starts on Monday.
It is due to run for three weeks and falls on what should have been Ben’s tenth birthday.
Ms Condon said: ‘It destroyed me hearing the inquest would fall on Ben’s birthday.
‘We have been forced to repeatedly relive the trauma of that day through every harrowing attempt the Trust have made to conceal the truth from us.
‘They have been nothing short of completely blasé about our grief. This never goes way, it has broken me, but we will continue to fight until the truth about what happened to our beautiful boy is bought into the stark light of day.’
Ben, aged just eight weeks old, was admitted to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in April 2015 with what staff described as a ‘cold’ but seven days later he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.
Allyn and Jenny Condon (pictured) have campaigned tirelessly to get justice for their son
The fresh inquest into his death while under the care of University Hospital Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust starts on Monday. Pictured: Ben Condon with his parents
Mr Condon is former sprinter and bobsleigher and at the Vancouver Olympic Games in 2010 became the seventh person to have competed for Great Britain in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games having already competed in the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Mary Smith, from New South Law, who are representing the family at the inquest said ‘Hospital Trusts and those working for them have a duty to be open and honest with families.
‘Never should a bereaved family be re-traumatised by a battle to uncover what happened to their loved one.’
The premature baby developed a cough three days after he was discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit in Southmead Hospital Bristol.
As his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to Bristol Children’s Hospital and diagnosed with Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV).
Children are expected to make a full recovery from the virus but Ben died following a cardiac arrest on April 17, 2015, after contracting a bacterial infection and developing sepsis. He was not given antibiotics until an hour before he died.
In a follow up meeting with the hospital in July 2015, staff were recorded talking about the mistakes that had been made after Ben’s parents had left the room.
Unaware that the family’s and the staff’s recording devices were still on they were heard discussing whether they could delete the conversation as ‘that could get us into difficulty.’
Ms Condon said: ‘It destroyed me hearing the inquest would fall on Ben’s birthday’
In a follow up meeting with the hospital in July 2015, staff were recorded talking about the mistakes that had been made after Ben’s parents had left the room. Pictured: Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
Ben’s parents say they were still not told of the mistakes.
The question of whether their son could have survived if he had received different care has haunted the parents and led them to exhaust every avenue – including meeting then-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt – to expose the ‘systemic cover-up’ by the Trust.
The Trust wrote to Jeremy Hunt accepting they had made a ‘material contribution’ and ‘believe it is only right to acknowledge the view that Ben would on the balance of probabilities have survived, if antibiotics had been given sooner.’
This letter was never provided to the parents, a key factor in the High Court taking the unusual step of quashing the original inquest conclusion and granting the parents a fresh inquest.
A 2021 investigation into Ben’s death by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found ‘there was a deliberate intention to deceive’ and a ‘universal failure to be open and honest’ with the parents.
The Condons have remained firm in their view that the first inquest in 2015, which recorded a narrative conclusion after doctors said the bacterial infection and his subsequent treatment played no part in his death, was intentionally misled by the Trust.
Throughout their ten-year battle Ben’s parents have made more than 100 requests for information to the Trust, including numerous formal Subject Access Requests, to understand the actions taken by the medical professions in charge of their son’s care.
Many of them remain unanswered.
A 2021 investigation into Ben’s death by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found ‘there was a deliberate intention to deceive’ and a ‘universal failure to be open and honest’ with the parents
Throughout their ten-year battle Ben’s parents have made more than 100 requests for information to the hospital Trust
Ms Condon said: ‘All we have ever wanted is to understand why and how our son died, instead, we have suffered a ten-year hell to get to the truth. At every turn the Trust have taken steps to hide the truth and protect their own reputational interests rather than learn from what happened.
‘In our view, until the truth is known, future lives of patients are in grave danger. Ben’s life will not be in vain and we will not let the systemic cover up continue.
‘We need people to know what really happened, so changes can be made to prevent this ever happening again.
‘We also want to ensure no bereaved parents are ever treated in the way we have been.
‘We are hopeful, this time round, that we will finally be provided with a truthful account so that the right conclusion can be reached by the coroner.’
Mary Smith, Head of Inquests, Human Rights and Fatal Negligence at New South Law, said: ‘No family should be put through the trauma Ben’s have. When things go wrong, Trusts have a duty to be open and honest and to work with families to reduce the burden of their trauma, not add to it.
‘As the PHSO and CQC have made clear, the conduct of the Trust towards Ben’s parents has been shameful. For ten years, the Trust has failed to disclose records, answer simple questions and to comply with their professional ‘Duty of Candour.’ The hope is that, through this process, Jenny and Allyn will finally have the information they need to understand what happened to Ben and to begin to process their grief.’
The family is represented by Ms Smith, of New South Law and Jennifer McLeod and Sophie Bird of Brick Court Chambers. Ms Smith and Ms McLeod also represented the family in their earlier battle at the High Court to quash the original inquest conclusion.
The conclusion is expected to be delivered at Avon Coroner’s Court on February 21.
