Parents of a 10-year-old boy who died just 72 hours after a routine operation to remove kidney stones have slammed the NHS report into his death.
Luke Glendenning went in for surgery in November but died three days later after six botched operations.
His mother, Sue Hirst, 36, said she was told the procedure would be low-risk and that her son would make a speedy recovery.
Luke Glendenning, 10, died three days after six failed surgeries at Leeds Children’s Hospital
The NHS worker said: ‘I still don’t understand why doing nothing was not a viable option when Luke had no symptoms?
‘He wasn’t suffering so why not just leave and monitor him?
‘We were ‘sold’ the procedure as it was the least invasive with the quicker recovery time – not necessarily the case if Luke would have needed to undergo two or three procedures.’
The schoolboy was diagnosed with the condition when he was taken to A&E in June after a playground fall left him complaining of a pain in his side.
Doctors were surprised to find the ‘perfectly healthy’ child had large kidney stones.
The condition is common in 30 to 60 year olds, but unusual in children.
Luke then went in for surgery at Leeds Children’s Hospital five months later, on November 6, after further tests.
An investigation launched by Leeds Teaching Hospitals found eight ‘service delivery problems’ with the operation.
A report into the schoolboy’s death found eight problems with the way doctors handled his operation
The report also made 10 recommendations, and the procedure has been suspended by Leeds Teaching Hospitals.
During surgery, doctors couldn’t remove all the stones because Luke had an abnormally shaped kidney. It meant the child was under the knife for nine hours.
The following hours after the extensively long surgery were a series of heart plummeting medical dramas where Luke’s condition went from bad to worse.
He underwent three further operations, in which surgeons had to remove a bleeding kidney, had to stop internal bleeding and then remove packaging packed in his body used to stop bleeding.
They then had to attach him to a machine to aid his liver and heart.
Luke’s heart eventually stopped and they needed to get him to theatre to see if they could restart it.
But his sixth and final operation was unsuccessful and his family had to make the decision to switch his life support machine off.
He died on Thursday November 9.
The Trust, which has given the family a cash settlement of £23,000 for clinical negligence, has not admitted culpability in Luke’s death, despite raised concerns.
Surgeons couldn’t remove all of the stones because Luke had an abnormally shaped kidney
One concern in the report was whether the surgeon who performed the surgery – who had recently taken over the paediatric urology service and had only had ‘a small number’ of cases in the UK – was properly mentored.
Other concerns investigated included whether the invasive life support techniques were warranted.
The report also said there was a lack of a ‘multidisciplinary approach’ that meant a professor from Sheffield Children’s Hospital, who had been acting as a mentor to the surgeon, was not consulted before the decision was made to go ahead with the operation, nor was a radiologist who was involved with Luke’s initial care.
Neither attended a ‘theatre team brief’ held before the original surgery.
While the report did not identify a ‘single root cause’ for his deterioration, it says that due to the effects of the treatment given to Luke when his body filled with fluid after the first operation, combined with bleeding complications ‘resulted in his condition being unrecoverable within the first 24 hours’.
His mother Sue Hirst says she wasn’t made aware of any risks involved in the procedure
His mother and builder father have met with the investigator who prepared the report, but remain confused as to why Luke died.
Luke’s parents, under the advice of a solicitor, accepted a settlement of £23,000 from Leeds Teaching Hospitals.
Miss Hirst said: ‘It was never about the money for us, it was about them admitting they caused Luke’s death.
‘We have had apologises from the trust, in the sense that they are sorry Luke had died, but they have never said sorry for causing his death.
‘It’s difficult to accept what has happened. Luke was a happy and healthy 10-year-old boy. ‘
Dr Yvette Oade, Chief Medical Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: ‘I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to Luke’s family and to reiterate our sincere apologies.
‘We have discussed the findings of the report with Luke’s family and would like to offer a further opportunity to address any outstanding concerns that they may have.
‘We are continuing to work hard to implement the recommendations from the report and to ensure that lessons have been learned.’