Baby's body thrown out with hospital laundry

The body of a premature baby was accidentally thrown into a hospital laundry bin before being put on a laundry boil wash, it emerged today.

Tiny James Kelly Fernandez, who weighed just 1lb 1oz, died shortly after he was born 17 weeks premature at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup, Kent.

But his frail body was lost among piles of dirty linen after it was taken to the mortuary.

A spokesperson for the hospital said that the hospital had apologised to James’ parents and that the incident was a ‘‘tragic mistake’’.

But James’ father Patrick Kelly, 36, said: ‘‘A dog would not have gone through that.

‘‘This was not simply a tragic accident - it was incompetence and somebody needs to be held responsible.

‘‘The people who did it might be very sorry and be very stressed, very pushed and very busy, but this is incompetence.’’

Mr Kelly’s Spanish girlfriend Amaia Fernandez, 25, was 23 weeks into a pregnancy complicated by the blood disorder toxoplasmosis.

James was born on November 17 at 5.17am but died an hour later in his parents’ arms.

A hospital spokesperson said tonight: ‘‘A baby who was delivered at Queen Mary’s Hospital died of natural causes an hour after birth.

‘‘Due to a tragic mistake, the body of the baby was somehow transferred to a linen basket in the hospital mortuary and taken to an external laundry where the body was later discovered.

‘‘A full internal inquiry was instigated immediately the incident was discovered to understand how this tragic event occurred.

‘‘The Trust has learnt from the investigation and has already implemented changes in work practices to ensure that this dreadful mistake can never happen again.

‘‘Queen Mary’s offers not only its sincere condolences but also apologises unreservedly for the events that took place and the distress we have caused following the death of their son. We have privately expressed our apologies to the parents.’’

When undertakers arrived to collect his body on December 13 no trace could be found and a search was launched.

His body was found the following morning on a conveyor belt at the industrial cleaning firm Sunlight Healthcare Services, 13 miles away in Brixton, south London.

When Mr Kelly was told by police that his son’s body had been through a boil wash he was disgusted.

He said: ‘‘He told me James had been put through a washing cycle for contaminated clothes from the mortuary which meant it had to go on the hottest wash.

‘‘I was horrified. I asked whether James was in one piece and he told me that he was but had suffered lots of fractures.’’

James’ funeral was eventually held on January 3, in Lewisham, south-east London.

Mr Kelly added: ‘‘Tony Blair can say what he likes about our situation, he can spin it anyway he wants, but the fact is the NHS is a disgrace.’’