Mum awarded £25k after hospital beds blunder meant tot died waiting for surgery

A grieving mum has been awarded £25,000 compensation by an NHS Trust after a hospital beds blunder meant her sick toddler died waiting for surgery.

Kayden Urmston-Bancroft was just 20 months when he went into cardiac arrest – four days after going into hospital.

His parents say they repeatedly begged doctors for help as they watched their son slowly dying before their eyes.

As he finally slipped away, Kayden’s family gathered at his bedside as his gran read him his favourite Mr Men books.

The toddler had needed an operation to repair a hole in his diaphragm which was causing his bowel to crush his lungs.

But staff at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital told mum Shannon Bancroft that no high dependency beds were available post-surgery.

But an inquest was told there WERE beds and a series of failings meant the lifesaving procedure was not carried out in time.

Coroner Angharad Davies said there was a “gross failure” in care leading to an “unacceptable delay” in surgery.

She ruled that his death was of natural causes “contributed to by neglect”.

Grief-stricken Shannon, 22, told the Sunday People: “Knowing my son could have been saved is hard to bear.

“The fact he died in pain is something I don’t think I can ever forgive. You take your child to hospital and think you will be going home with them. We put Kayden’s life in their hands and they let us down in the worst possible way.”

Shannon’s nightmare began in April 2016 when Kayden fell at home in Stockport and suffered breathing difficulties.

An X-ray at Stepping Hill Hospital revealed he had been born with a diaphragmatic hernia and his bowel had burst through, compressing his chest.

The toddler needed urgent surgery and was transferred to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital the next morning.

Shannon said: “We waited hours and were eventually told no post-operative beds were available. He was in terrible pain because his stomach was pushing on his lungs.”

Four days after Kayden first saw a doctor, Shannon was told the op would take place – only for an emergency case to take the slot.

Then, shortly before midnight, Kayden suffered a cardiac arrest. Shannon said: “They worked for 27 minutes to get his heart started again. I was in hysterics.”

Her son was then finally given the operation – but it was too late. Shannon went on: “It took my son to have a cardiac arrest and stop breathing for them to give him the operation.

“Afterwards a surgeon said they had failed us. It was galling after we had begged and begged for help. He never regained consciousness and we could tell he wasn’t going to make it. His brain had been starved of oxygen for half an hour.”

The distraught mum gathered Kayden’s loved ones, including her ex-partner Mark Urmston, and asked doctors to switch off the life support. She said: “My mum Julie read him Mr Men books. There was a bit of him in every character. Then I held him and she put her hand on his chest to feel his heart. She told me when it stopped beating.”

A hospital probe found three beds were available but communication problems meant staff were unaware. Man-chester University NHS Foundation Trust acknowledged responsibility and paid damages. But Shannon’s pain goes on. She added: “We’ve got justice and an apology but the hole in our lives cannot be filled.

“I do wonder if my age played a factor in staff not listening and trusting my mother’s instinct when I said how much pain he was in.

“I want to tell other parents to keep pushing. Don’t be fobbed off when you know something is wrong.”