Review finds baby's death 'could have been avoided'

An independent review has found the death of a sixteen-month old baby in Birmingham could have been avoided if social services had been notified of his injuries by hospital staff.

It comes as his Dad has accused Walsall Manor Hospital of a ‘cover up’ after an eight-year wait for answers over the death of his son, who was shaken to death by his stepfather.

Kyle Keen was killed by Tyrone Matthews in 2006 after hospital staff failed to report suspicious bruising in the days leading to the killing.

But Rob Keen only discovered the truth after a whistleblowing doctor told him about the ‘catastrophic mistakes’ – and claimed he had been offered a pay-off to keep quiet.

A review published today found that there was a ‘significant probability that the death could have been avoided’ if hospital staff had referred Kyle to social services when he was admitted to hospital on June 21 2006.

Two doctors and a nurse expressed concern at the bruises, but were over-ruled by a consultant and the toddler was discharged four days later.

But within the week he was re-admitted unconscious after being violently shaken by his mother’s boyfriend Matthews and died from a bleed on his brain the following day.

A Serious Case Review was launched in August 2007 by Walsall Safeguarding Children Board, but Mr Keen was not interviewed during the investigation. He did not become aware of the review until 2012.

Matthews was jailed for six and a half years after pleading guilty to manslaughter, while Kyle’s mother Kerry McIntosh was given a six month suspended sentence for child neglect.