A private call handling firm operating the NHS 111 service has admitted it was at fault for failing to send an ambulance to a baby boy who died shortly after falling ill, an inquest has heard. Ben Condon, born premature, died aged two months at Bristol Children's Hospital in April 2015 after developing a respiratory illness.
The fresh inquest into Ben's death heard that when the child went home to Weston-super-Mare with his parents, he developed a cold. His father, Allyn Condon, a former Olympic sprinter, rang the 111 service, run at the time by Care UK, at about 6pm on 10 April. The call handler referred Ben for an out-of-hours GP call-back within two hours rather than sending an ambulance.
Assistant coroner Robert Sowersby said Care UK had apologised to the family and admitted it was at fault for not sending an ambulance. The incident report found the health adviser incorrectly recorded answers to questions about whether Ben was conscious and alert, and whether he was pale, limp and unresponsive. A correct response to just one of these questions would have led to the dispatch of an emergency ambulance.
Sowersby said cognitive bias was a contributory factor, as the health adviser was mindful of external pressures regarding ambulances being called out. The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust ultimately admitted that a failure to give Ben timely antibiotics contributed to his death.
