Hospital admits full responsibility for failures in toddler's death

Alder Hey Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has accepted full responsibility for 24 failures that contributed to the death of 21-month-old Eleanor Hazel Aldred-Owen, BBC Health reported.

Eleanor died on October 2, 2023, following routine surgery for a skull birth defect called craniosynostosis. An abnormal chest X-ray was not flagged, which led to a cardiac arrest and brain injury.

The coroner ruled her death was due to misadventure and contributed to by neglect. Her family has expressed ongoing trauma and guilt since the incident.

Eleanor's father described the hospital's admission of gross neglect as a difficult but important step toward justice and preventing similar tragedies in the future.

The hospital trust acknowledged the death was tragic and stated it should not have happened, emphasizing their commitment to learning from the incident.