There is no evidence that post-mortem samples were taken from a premature baby after his death, a hospital boss has said.
Documents appear to suggest that four samples were sent for testing following the death of Ben Condon, who was two months old.
Ben died in the paediatric intensive care unit of Bristol Children’s Hospital on April 17 2015, six days after being admitted there with a respiratory illness.
An inquest in June 2016 initially recorded Ben’s death as being caused by acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), metapneumovirus (hMPV) and prematurity.
But the following year, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust admitted a failure to give Ben timely antibiotics for a pseudomonas bacterial infection had contributed to his death.
High Court judges quashed the original inquest conclusion in 2021 and ordered a fresh hearing, which began at Avon Coroner’s Court last week, following campaigning by Ben’s parents Allyn and Jenny Condon.
On Tuesday, Professor Stuart Walker, the manager director of University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, gave evidence to the inquest.
Robert Sowersby, assistant coroner for Avon, said: “It can be a criminal offence to take anything from a deceased person without the proper authority.
“If post-mortem samples were taken, it might be a criminal offence. It would certainly be a matter for referral to the GMC (General Medical Council) if a doctor was involved.
“Is this something that the Trust was aware of as a possibility that this may have happened?”
Prof Walker replied: “I have not be made aware of any possibility that this was the case.”
He continued: “My understanding is that there has been extensive investigations looking into the circumstances in relation to that and no evidence has been discovered that post-mortem samples were taken.”
Prof Walker told the hearing that the trust currently has “very robust processes in this area”.
Mr Sowersby said he had not come to any conclusions about whether samples were taken after Ben’s death and it may not be appropriate for him to do so.
The coroner added: “I have seen evidence which, on the face of it, would suggest that post-mortem samples were taken and processed.
“I have heard additional evidence which offers a potential explanation for what may have happened and how it may have looked like post mortem sampling but may not, in fact, be post-mortem sampling.
“Whether you feel it is worth investigating, I leave to you. That’s entirely a matter for you and the trust.”
The coroner said that post-mortem investigations follow a framework, with the coroner’s office at the top of that framework.
He added: “If it was the case that hospital staff, possibly hospital staff that are still there, were involved in post-mortem sampling then that circumvents the coroner’s officer and that could be a concern.”
During questioning by Jennifer MacLeod, representing Ben’s family, Prof Walker said an email suggested a trainee doctor had taken one of the samples before Ben’s death.
Prof Walker added that samples taken during a patient’s life may end up being processed after their death, as they are sent to a laboratory and tested.
Ms MacLeod asked whether Prof Walker was aware of an email suggesting samples had been taken “around the time” of Ben’s death.
Prof Walker said he was not.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the coroner also asked about a document disclosed to his office and Ben’s family one week before this inquest was due to begin.
This included a document showing that a blood test marked “urgent” had been ordered for Ben on April 15, with “query sepsis” listed as the reason for the test.
Mr Sowersby said: “It was, on the face of it, quite a damning document if the argument is that there was no concern about a secondary infection until April 17.”
Prof Walker replied that in his experience, test requests were usually “scantily completed” with reasons put “simply to justify the test”.
He added: “The query sepsis statement, in my opinion, reflected a desire to screen routinely for the risks of a secondary bacterial infection.”
The inquest previously heard Ben’s parents, Allyn and Jenny Condon, were told a post-mortem examination was not necessary following his death, leading to his body being cremated.
Ben was born in February 2015 at 29 weeks gestation and spent seven weeks in neonatal intensive care at Southmead Hospital before being discharged home to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on April 7.
His parents took him to Weston General Hospital on April 10, after he became unwell following cold-like symptoms, and he was transferred to Bristol Children’s Hospital the following day.
The baby, who weighed 5lbs, was diagnosed with hMPV and later found to have ARDS. He suffered a cardiac arrest on April 17 and was pronounced dead at 9.07pm that day.
The inquest continues.