Telford hospital medics in probe after father jailed for killing baby son
A probe into the death of an 11-month-old Telford baby killed by his father will look at whether doctors and nurses at the town's Princess Royal Hospital should have done more to help him.
Tragic tot Oliver Sargent was rushed to the hospital on July 27, 2012, after his father Paul Thomas made an emergency 999 call to say his son had collapsed in his cot and was not breathing.
The baby was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital but died four days later, with scans revealing a catalogue of injuries including a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and eyes, fractured collarbone and fractured ribs.
Thomas, 29, was jailed for 10 years this week after a jury at Birmingham Crown Court convicted him of manslaughter at the end of a five-week trial.
Oliver's mother Ashlea Thomas, formerly Sargent, 21, was cleared of murder and manslaughter but found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child. She was given a two-year suspended jail term.
Telford and Wrekin's Local Safeguarding Children's Board has said the findings of a "Serious Case Review" into Oliver's death would be published some time in June.
A spokesman for Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said the trust would not be commenting on the case but was co-operating fully with the Children's Board in the preparation of the review document.
Oliver had been in and out of Princess Royal in the months leading up to his death..
Right at the start of the trial, prosecutor Mr Andrew Smith said doctors were "mistaken" in accepting the explanations offered for the bruises, and pointed out no X-rays or scans were ever taken on the baby's earlier attendances at hospital.
Andrew Mason, chairman of Telford and Wrekin's Local Safeguarding Children's Board, said: "The verdict will be followed up with the publication of a Serious Case Review.
"We have already carried out extensive work on this and it is virtually complete. However there is some more work to be done that could not be completed until the conclusion of the trial and that will now be done. We expect that this review will be published in early June."
Meanwhile Sandra McNair, NSPCC Midlands Regional Head of Service, said: "We all have a responsibility to keep children safe from harm and it is vital that people raise anxieties before it is too late."
