A COUPLE who criticised Doncaster Royal Infirmary when their baby son died from meningitis have been vindicated after a judge awarded them a five-figure sum in compensation.
Doctors twice failed to spot the symptoms and said Bobby Bushell’s mother, Jane Hooks, of Hazel Avenue, Auckley, was ‘hysterical’.
But within hours the 13-month-old died in his mother’s arms, in August 2007, because the disease had taken hold and did not respond to intravenous antibiotics.
Jane, now aged 29, and Bobby’s dad, Craig Bushell, said hospital doctors dismissed her concerns.
“The treatment by staff at the hospital was nothing short of disgraceful and the doctors arrogantly waved away my fears my little boy was suffering from meningitis – not once, but twice,” she said.
“Their attitude cost my son his life. If they had listened to a mother’s instinct instead of lazily dismissing me as hysterical Bobby would be alive today.”
Jane said as her son’s condition deteriorated and his screams became desperate, a nurse told her to ‘wheel him around’ so he wasn’t so loud.
“She came to me in the side room of the children’s ward with a buggy and said, ‘Can you wheel him round a bit? He’s a bit loud’. It was such a dreadful thing to say.”
Helen Budge, of law firm Pannone, said: “No amount of money could ever compensate Jane and Craig for the loss of Bobby, but the judge’s findings prove they were right to bring this action and highlight the mistakes made.
“The Trust denied liability and made Bobby’s parents endure a five-year struggle to achieve justice. It is to be hoped the Trust has learned lessons from this tragic episode.”
Sewa Singh, the Trust’s medical director, said: “This is a very sad case and we offer our deepest sympathies and apologies for any shortcomings in the care provided to Bobby.”