NHS Grampian have apologised after a baby died following serious failings in their care.
The mother of the boy, who was being treated at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, complained after a medical device that relieves pressure on the brain was fitted shortly after he was born.
A report by the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO) found the child, named as “Baby A”, died in August 2015 following serious failings in care and treatment by the health board.
NHS Grampian today admitted they failed the boy and his family, saying their “extremely poor standard of communication” had compounded the upset.
The SPSO report found there was “a lack of clarity regarding the roles of each medical team, and that there was a lack of communication between consultants when Baby A’s condition was not improving.”
It added: “We also found that the neurosurgical team had not kept reasonable records, nor had they appropriately assessed Baby A before and after operations.
“We identified significant delays in Baby A being reviewed after he underwent operations, and a delay in clinicians contacting the specialist centre for advice on the management of Baby A.
“Finally, we considered there to have been a lack of communication from the neurosurgical team and Baby A’s parents. Given the multiple failings identified by our investigation, we upheld this aspect of the complaint.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said: “It is clear we failed Baby A and therefore failed his family.
“The distress of the family was further compounded by the extremely poor standard of our communication with them. There can be no excuses for our conduct in this case and we apologise unreservedly.
“We accept all of the recommendations put forward by the Ombudsman in this case.”
