Parents say premature baby's care at St James Hospital, Leeds, 'unacceptable'

The parents of a premature baby boy who died at St James's Hospital, Leeds, just hours after his birth have described the care he received in hospital as "unacceptable".

Benjamin Arnold developed breathing difficulties shortly after being born just more than five weeks before his due date in 2022.

Area coroner for Yorkshire West Eastern, Oliver Longstaff,  told an inquest into Benjamin Arnold’s death that doctors "missed" opportunities to diagnose a pneumothorax, also known as a collapsed lung, and, if this had been treated, it was likely that he would likely have survived.

Mr Longstaff's narrative conclusion said the baby had "collapsed" during a procedure to help his underdeveloped lungs to breathe three hours after his birth. Efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead less than eight hours after he was born.

Mr Longstaff said there was a "missed opportunity to consider the possibility" of a pneumothorax early on in the process, because procedure policy "did not mandate a chest X-ray", which he said would probably have revealed it.

The coroner added that a further opportunity was also missed when the medic performing the procedure did not discuss it with the neonatal consultant involved. 

The inquest conclusion said that, if a neonatal consultant had been involved, they would have been likely to have asked if a pneumothorax had been ruled out as a cause of Benjamin's condition.

Mr Longstaff said: "No thought was given to the pneumothorax being a potential, and potentially reversible, cause of the collapse. If he had been treated he would have, on the balance of probabilities, survived."

The coroner said he was preparing a Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report, which would examine what lessons could be learned from the case.

Following the inquest, Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust medical director, Dr Magnus Harrison,  said: "I am extremely sorry Benjamin died whilst in our care and I cannot imagine how difficult the last three years have been for his family.

"I want to reassure everyone that we have already made important changes to improve our neonatal service. These include changes to our policies to have a consultant neonatologist available on each hospital site and involving them earlier in the delivery of complex clinical procedures.

"While we recognise these do not undo the loss of Benjamin, we will continue to review our service and make improvements so we can deliver the best possible care for our babies and their families."

In a statement to the BBC, Benjamin's parents said: "We are devastated by Benjamin's death. The standard of care he received was unacceptable.

"We urge Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust to take the Prevention of Future Deaths report seriously and ask the government to urgently provide the funding for the new hospital building in Leeds. 

"This would allow all maternity and neonatal care to be provided from a single site and improve patient safety. This cannot wait any longer."

In January, Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, announced the planned redevelopment of Leeds General Infirmary would not begin before 2030. 

At the time, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Professor Phil Wood,  said he was "extremely disappointed" by the delay.