The parents of a dying baby suffered a “horrifically stressful” time when they were stopped from seeing their child due to failings by social services, an official review has said.
Social workers deprived the parents of time alone with the critically ill baby after concerns for his welfare were raised.
The couple were placed under strict supervision after injuries were discovered when the baby was admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties.
The family said these could have been caused by invasive physical and medical interventions during a previous hospital stay. But the safeguarding investigation meant the parents, who had two other children, had to be supervised at all times when visiting their baby.
Some days they could only spend four hours with him and on one day a staff shortage meant they were not able to visit him at all.
The couple pleaded for the restrictions to be relaxed when their son’s condition deteriorated but the social workers refused, according to a report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
The review found that not one social worker visited the baby in hospital to see the situation for themselves, nor was there evidence the council looked at alternative solutions.
The parents, who were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, complained to City of York council about the case. Instead of taking a maximum of 65 days to respond, the council took 343 days.
The ombudsman, Michael King, said: “Nobody could criticise the social workers in this case for starting the safeguarding action.
“But what they should have done was keep the situation under review, especially once it became clear there was very little risk to the child, and his condition deteriorated.
“This would have been a horrifically stressful time for the family, when their world must have felt like it was falling apart. Social workers should have done more to facilitate the parents’ visits, for example by contacting social workers in the neighbouring authority, or the hospital’s own patient liaison services.”
City of York council has apologised to the parents and paid them £2,000 for the distress caused.
King added: “To compound this family’s distress, the council took far too long to investigate their concerns when they complained about their treatment.
“I’m pleased York council has accepted the findings of this report, and hope the remedies recommended will prevent other families going through such a distressing situation.”
