THE devastated parents of a boy who died hours after he was sent home from hospital, said they feel "badly let down" that opportunities were missed to prevent his death.

A coroner ruled yesterday that Callum Cartlidge, who died on March 3, 2017, after suffering a cardiac arrest, was "failed” by hospital staff who discharged him without a blood test.

Hours earlier the eight-year-old had been sent home from Worcestershire Royal Hospital following a referral from his GP.

The coroner gave a narrative verdict saying Callum would have survived if a blood test was undertaken the day before his death, as had been argued by an expert medical consultant during the inquest.

A nurse also accepted that she should have completed a fluid balance chart but failed to do so. As a result of this the NHS Trust now audits these charts.

The coroner also stated that he believed steps had been taken to deal with the failures in care following Callum’s death.

In a statement Stacey and Adie said: “We all miss Callum so much and life has never been the same for our family since his death.

“We feel our concerns regarding Callum’s condition were not taken seriously. Now to be told that our son would probably still be alive today if he had received the care that he deserved just adds to the pain and anger we are suffering.

“Callum died far too young and had his whole life ahead of him. Now we have to live with the fact that we will never get to celebrate those landmarks in life such as him passing his exams, starting his first job or getting married.

“Our only hope now is that the NHS Trust realises the pain our family has and continue to suffer. We urge the trust to make sure it learns lessons from Callum’s death so others don’t experience our loss.”

Caroline Brogan, an expert medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing the family, said after the hearing: “Since Callum’s death his family have had a number of concerns about the treatment he received in the lead up to his death, and sadly, today’s verdict has validated these concerns.

“We believe that Callum and his family were badly let down and opportunities were missed to prevent his death.

“Stacey, Adie and the rest of the family now hope that the lessons are learned to ensure that no one else faces the failings that led to Callum’s death, and that no family has to go through the same pain as they have.

“We will continue to support Callum’s family in their fight for justice.”

Dr Andrew Short, divisional medical director for women and children’s services at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said they will "learn from his death for the benefit of patients in the future".

He said: “We would like to again express our deepest condolences to Mr and Mrs Cartlidge for the tragic loss of their son Callum and apologise for the failures described by the coroner.

“This has been an extremely distressing case for everyone it has touched, in particular Callum’s family but also our staff and other healthcare professionals who were involved in his care.

“Callum died after a viral infection triggered the sudden and unexpected onset of an extremely rare and undiagnosed condition.

“The inquest heard from a leading expert on that condition, Addison’s Disease, who said he had never before in his 25-year career seen the disease present in the way it did in Callum.

“Doctors and nurses who dedicate their careers to the care of children rely on their skills, knowledge and experience to interpret a range of clinical signs and observations of the child in front of them to decide on the best course of treatment.

“Sometimes, despite our best intentions, the outcome is not what we anticipated.

“The coroner recognised that we have carried out our own thorough review of what happened to Callum to make sure that we learn from his death for the benefit of patients in the future.

“We have improved record keeping and documentation on our children’s ward, and the quality of records including fluid charts, is regularly audited.

“These audits have shown a significant improvement over the past few months.

“We have also shared our learning on Addison’s Disease with colleagues and put in place new processes to allow ambulance crews, GPs and other health professionals to refer children in need of urgent attention directly to our children’s ward.

“We will continue to reflect and learn from the coroner’s findings.”