Patient James Dwerryhouse, suffered a catastrophic brain injury at the Portland Hospital as a result of cardiac arrest after equipment monitoring his breathing was turned off for almost three hours overnight.
He died in a hospice when life support was withdrawn the following day.
His parents Marguerite and John today spoke publicly for the first time about James’s death last August as they launched legal action against hospital owners HCA Healthcare.
The hospital in Great Portland Street was where Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were born. Celebrities including Victoria Beckham, Liz Hurley and Claudia Schiffer have also chosen it for childbirth.
James had been admitted for a routine operation on his bowel on August 25 and was recovering in intensive care.
He had enjoyed a FaceTime session with his brothers and sisters from his hospital bed and was in “good spirits” when his father left him in the early hours. A serious incident report drawn up by the hospital reveals that monitoring equipment was switched off at 1.15am and not turned back on until nearly 4am, by which time James had suffered cardiac arrest.
He had sleep apnoea — potentially life-threatening interruptions in breathing while asleep — and was found unresponsive by night staff.
Marguerite Dwerryhouse said: “It has been heart-breaking. James had health issues and needed a lot of health support in his life but he was full of life, cheeky, funny, happy and occasionally mischievous, like all little boys.
“Only days earlier he’d been to summer club — chasing around, up and down slides, having a great time.
“He wasn’t a fragile boy at all, he wasn’t poorly and he certainly wasn’t a boy who was at risk of dying. This was a routine operation, which had been a complete success.
“We still don’t know the full truth. We know the police have been looking into the matter and now we also have solicitors acting on our behalf, so hopefully we will get there in the end. We need to for James.
“Till now we’ve been very quiet and even people close to us have been unaware of how James was let down and why he died. People need to know, though, and we need to know exactly what happened that night.”
According to the serious incident report, nursing staff removed the monitoring equipment without consulting senior colleagues.
CCTV footage suggests that staff, who were looking after six children on the unit, took longer breaks than were permitted, the report claims.