A HEARTBROKEN mother believes her eight-month old son could have been saved had action been taken earlier by medics at Southend Hospital.

Stephanie Caves spoke at the inquest into the death of her son Cameron, who was rushed to the hospital on April 30, after becoming unwell.

The two-day inquest heard Cameron had a complex congenital heart defect and had undergone open heart surgery three times in his short life.

Mrs Caves had wanted to take him to Evelina London Children’s Hospital, but due to a Tube strike she took him to Southend.

Addressing the inquest, Mrs Caves said: “In the time he spent in the hospital he was allowed to deteriorate to the point where he had a cardiac arrest.

“If there had been the earlier intervention that Cameron needed, we do not believe he would have had the cardiac arrest.”

She later added: “They could have made a difference. If everything they did had been done an hour earlier, that could have made the difference between Cameron dying and not dying.”

The inquest heard the baby was taken to Southend A&E, but wasn’t seen by a paediatric consultant until two hours later.

A nurse and registrar gave Cameron one-to-one care, carried out a series of tests and gave him antibiotics and oxygen.

The paediatric consultant said if had been called earlier, hemay have acted differently to the registrar, but still maintained the registrar acted appropriately.

The inquest heard no contact was made with the Children’s Acute Transport Services about transfering Cameron to another hospital.

Recording a narrative verdict, coroner Eleanor McGann, said: “Despite rigorous attention, they were not able to stabilise him sufficiently for him to be moved safely. Sadly Cameron suffered a cardiac arrest and death was pronounced.”

“If the transport service had been called, they would not have been able to get him to the Evelina before he died.”

The consultant added: “It was not a heart failure that was simple to manage. His was a very frail and fragile heart. We did our best with what we could in our hands.”

Speaking after the inquest, Southend Hospital’s acting chief executive, Sue Hardy, said: “The trust would like to once again express its sincere condolences to Cameron’s family for their tragic loss.

“We fully accept the Coroner’s conclusion and hope it will bring some closure to Cameron’s family at this very difficult time.

“We are pleased to note there were no criticisms made of the trust. As part of our continuing commitment to delivering the highest standards of care to our patients we have made further improvements to the paediatric care pathway.”

CAMERON’S parents will meet with bosses at Southend Hospital following their son’s death.

Stephanie, 33, and Craig Caves, 38, said: “We knew the coroner’s inquiry was a narrow one and would not be able to cover the concerns we have in relation to the care Cameron required from Southend Hospital on the day he died.

“We have no reason to believe the outcome would have been the same if Cameron had been attended to by the paediatric consultant earlier.

“Instead Cameron was allowed to deteriorate for two hours before a paediatric consultant attended to him and the hospital did not follow, or use, its own escalation processes.

“Some of this is recognised by Southend Hospital which has introduced newprocedures since Cameron’s death. However, we will be pursuing our open concerns directly with Southend Hospital.”

The inquest heard an incident report was filed at the hospital following concerns raised by the matron over Cameron’s care.

Coroner McGann praised Cameron’s parents for listening to the “difficult and heartbreaking”

evidence.

She said: “It’s clear for eight months you dedicated your whole life to him and put so much effort into trying everything you could to save him.

“I hope you will remember that little picture of happiness in life and not just his death.”