‘No words can describe a child’s death’
Hours after waving goodbye to his family on his way to a routine operation, a freak accident killed Miki McCallum. Lisa Smyth spoke to his parents about their son’s life and their search to uncover the truth
22 June 2006
The death of a 13-year-old Portstewart schoolboy was an accident waiting to happen, the boy’s father has said. (BBC photo from >>this story)
An inquest found that Michael ‘Miki’ McCallum died in January 2005 - two weeks after a routine operation at Antrim Area Hospital when an oxygen tube became trapped in the mechanics of the operating table.
It was the first reported incident of its kind but photographs of a reconstruction of the operating theatre on the day in question show numerous wires and tubes running from the anaesthetic machine and lying loose and tangled on the floor.
Roger McCallum said that during his quest for truth, he has developed serious concerns about procedures at Antrim Area Hospital which are widely accepted in hospitals throughout the UK.
“Looking at the photographs of the theatre, there are wires lying all over the place and boxes on top of the anaesthetic machine that could easily fall off,” he said.
“What happened to Miki was an accident waiting to happen. I would have thought in such a technologically advanced world that steps could be taken to reduce the possibility, however remote, of apparatus becoming a taker rather than a provider of life.”
The grieving father also said he was deeply concerned that no consultant anaesthetists were present in the hospital during Miki’s operation. “We’re told there was no consultant present because it was a Bank Holiday weekend but I’m not sure that’s acceptable,” he said.
“There appeared to be an attitude of complacency present as I listened to the professionals giving evidence at the inquest but just because something has been done in a certain way for many years and by many a great people, it doesn’t mean it is still fit for purpose.”
Although United Hospitals Trust has made a number of amendments to surgical protocols at Antrim Area Hospital, a spokeswoman declined to comment on whether trainee doctors will continue to be responsible for anaesthetising patients while there is no consultant present in the hospital.
She said: “In both of the independent investigations carried out into the circumstances of Michael’s death, no concerns were voiced about the competence of the practitioners carrying out the medical procedures.
“In accordance with recommended practice throughout the NHS, the Trust makes its decision on the level of staffing on any occasion based on the competence and expertise of its practitioners.
“Managers, clinical directors and staff within the Trust will be meeting to discuss the various issues which have arisen out of the inquest to make sure that we can learn as much as possible from this tragic incident.”
