‘A deliberate attempt to deceive’: NHS trust severely criticised after father’s sex year fight for justice

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy An NHS children’s hospital has been accused of a “deliberate attempt to deceive” grieving parents over the avoidable death of their two month old baby boy in what an investigation called a “universal failure to be open and transparent.” The damning new report by the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman found staff at the University Hospitals Bristol Foundation Trust were not honest with Allyn and Jenny Condon about the death of their two-month-old son Ben, who died from a severe sepsis infection in 2015. The watchdog said it had identified a catalogue of failings by doctors, nurses and managers at the trust who it said had “completely failed” Ben’s parents adding: “It has done this to such a degree that it could be seen, as Mr Condon has, as a deliberate attempt to deceive. It has failed to do that over a number of years.” The Ombudsman said it could not prove the trust had conspired to cover up errors in Ben’s care but added: “There is no explanation from the trust about why there was such a universal failure to be open and transparent with Mr and Mrs Condon. Families should not have to fight like we have, it consumes your life.” Mr Condon added: “It is now six years since Ben’s death and nearly four years since the PHSO began investigating.