Yahoo News Jeremy Hunt says 'I'm sorry' for baby boy's death as he appears at memorial service
Jeremy Hunt has taken the unprecedented step of attending a memorial service for a one-year-old boy to apologise for the NHS's failure to diagnose that he had sepsis.
The Health Secretary said he, the NHS and the Government had "let down" William Mead, who died in December 2014.
Friends of Mr Hunt said he had decided to attend after being "moved" by the young boy's story.
William, from Penryn, Cornwall, lost his life after GPs, 111 call handlers and out-of-hours services failed to spot and act on signs that he was becoming dangerously ill.
Speaking at the private service in Truro Cathedral, Mr Hunt said: "I as Health Secretary, the Government and the NHS let down William."
Mr Hunt said he also accepted he had failed William's parents Paul and Melissa, who had organised the service to thank to the local community for their support following the tragedy.
"I've come here to say sorry," Mr Hunt told the congregation.
"This weekend William should have been enjoying beautiful Cornish sunshine with his parents. "We didn't spot his sepsis before it was too late."
An inquest heard the baby's death could have been avoided if he had been admitted to hospital.
The 111 call by his mother, Melissa Mead, was poorly dealt with by an adviser who would have had no more than a few weeks' training and who failed to notice the "abnormal behaviour" his mother described.
Last year, a report into the death of the 12-month-old criticised GPs, out-of-hours services and a 111 call handler who failed to spot he had sepsis caused by an underlying chest infection and pneumonia.
According to the report, a "deteriorating paediatric patient" like William was "not easily identified through the structured questioning," used by the 111 call handlers.
A friend of Mr Hunt said the health secretary wanted to attend because of the campaigning by Melissa Mead had forced the Government “to put money into sepsis awareness”.
The friend said: “They met a year ago, she told him her story and he was very moved by it. It has gone into policy. They had a memorial on Saturday in Truro and Jeremy went to pay his respects.
"He said a few words at the service because Mrs Mead's campaigning work has had such an impact on Government policy. He was invited and he thought it was a nice thing to accept."
Mrs Mead, who was involved in creating an awareness campaign for the condition said: "There has been so many people involved in the campaign and they've been pivotal.
"Without the government support, without the support of all the organisations we wouldn't be here where we are today and have made the changes we've made".
Mr Hunt met with Mrs Mead after she began the campaign to promise her that doctors and nurses would be given extra training in how to spot signs of potentially fatal blood poisoning.
