Newborn dies after surgery delayed five times

An infant born with half a heart died within 12 days of his birth after the doctors delayed it five times because of scarcity of beds in the hospital.

The doctors at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children insisted that the child was not ill enough for surgery till his condition deteriorated and his status was elevated and the infant suffered a cardiac arrest on the surgery table.

The child's mother told the court that they were told by the doctors before his surgery was first scheduled that they could not go ahead with the procedure due to lack of beds. The infant's parents are convinced that their baby could have survived and there were many slips and 'missed opportunities', reports UK daily Metro.

The couple are helping out a team of investigators who are looking into the series of infant deaths in the hospital since 2008.

The hospital maintained its stance that it had rescheduled the infant's surgery to ‘accommodate children needing treatment more urgently’, said the daily.

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