‘I will forever wish I had been more challenging’
THE parents of a baby boy who died seven hours after he was born said a ‘Swiss cheese effect of mistakes’ by medical professionals had contributed to his death.
At the resumed inquest yesterday into the death of Freddie Wilkins, it was shown that a rare but treatable heart condition was missed three times in the days before his death.
His parents, Tomos and Emma Wilkins, made a statement at the conclusion of the hearing.
Mrs Wilkins said that she hoped that no other family would have to go through what they had endured since Freddie’s death on 22 April 2019
She urged parents to ask questions, and not to accept the first answer.
‘I will forever wish that I had been a more challenging parent,’ she said.
Mrs Wilkins said she and her husband wanted to speak out – ‘someone has to be Freddie’s voice’.
‘No one can prepare you for your son dying in your arms and then finding out that yes, he had an underlying heart issue, but one that was very treatable. A condition that was ultimately missed three times over, due to locums not acting under the correct provisions.
‘Ultimately, our fallout was due to what was described as a “Swiss cheese” effect of mistakes, poor decision-making and lack of communication.’
She said that whatever the issues, whether they were personal to the two locum doctors involved or a governance issue for Health & Social Care, they would not help the family now.
Mrs Wilkins praised some of the ‘incredible doctors, midwives and health professionals’ that they had met, despite their anger and sadness at the treatment received from others.
Judge Gary Perry said that he found the cause of death to be in accordance with the medical report and in the light of this, he returned a verdict of death by natural causes.
However, he would be severely disappointed if lessons had not been learned from Freddie’s death.
He passed the court’s sympathies to the family ‘for what must be unimaginable loss and grief’.
