A double Olympian and his wife whose baby died following ‘a catalogue of hospital failures’ have spoken of their ’10-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.
Ben died when he was eight weeks old at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in April 2015, seven days after he was admitted with what staff described as a ‘cold’. The fresh inquest into their son’s death while under the care of University Hospital Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust starts today (Monday, February 3).
It is due to run for three weeks and falls on what should have been Ben’s tenth birthday. Jenny 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.”
Back in 2021, a report by the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman found hospital staff were not honest with Allyn and Jenny Condon about the death of their son. The watchdog found staff ‘completely failed’ the family, concluding: “It has done this to such a degree that it could be seen, as Mr Condon has, as a deliberate attempt to deceive.”
The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston (UHBW) trust, which runs the hospital, said at the time that it was ‘deeply sorry’ and promised to ‘take forward’ the recommendations in the report and make a ‘robust action plan where required’.
Allyn 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, which is 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.”
Ben, who was born prematurely, 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.
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 then heard discussing whether they could delete the conversation as “that could get us into difficulty”. 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 at the time Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt – to expose what they claim has been a ‘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.
Allyn and Jenny 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 10-year battle Ben’s parents say they have made over a 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. They claim many of which remain unanswered.
Allyn 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, added: “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 conclusion is expected to be delivered at Avon Coroner’s Court on February 21.