- Dylan Cope was discharged with flu-like symptoms and later died of septic shock
- Laurence and Corinne said the doctor’s photos were ‘protected data’
Hospital bosses have refused to allow the grieving father of a nine-year-old boy who died of sepsis to help him identify a “mysterious” doctor who he says mislabeled his symptoms as flu.
Dylan Cope died of a serious failure of basic care after being discharged without a full review over concerns he may have had appendicitis, a coroner concluded last month.
The schoolboy tragically died just over a week later of septic shock and multiple organ failure after his appendix burst, amid an investigation into numerous “individual errors” by staff at the £350m Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran.
However, the identity of the doctor who reportedly told Dylan’s father it was “highly unlikely” the youngster’s abdominal pain was related to his appendix and said he had tested positive for the flu could not be ascertained.
Now Dylan’s grieving parents, Laurence and Corinne, are demanding to see photographs of a ‘shortlist’ of 11 candidates identified as potentially the doctor in question in the hope he can answer critical questions about why the illness was not diagnosed at A&E.
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But bosses at the state-of-the-art hospital, which opened its doors in 2020, rejected the request after speaking to the General Medical Council and the deputy chief medical officer for Wales.
In the letter, they told the couple the images would be treated as protected ‘data’, citing the risk of ‘misidentification’, adding that all 11 denied seeing Dylan that night.
Today they said it was “hugely disappointing” that the hospital was refusing to accept his offer – and warned that the mystery doctor could put other children at risk.
With the unit’s CCTV system routinely wiped after four weeks, Dylan’s parents are now making a public appeal for anyone with information about the doctor’s identity.
“We believe it is highly likely that someone knows who this unidentified ‘doctor’ is,” Cope told MailOnline.
“As a compassionate human being and perhaps a parent ourselves, we encourage anyone with any knowledge to come forward.
“We are also appealing to any members of the public who were in hospital with their sick child that night to contact us if they have any information that could help.
“We just want the full picture – who he was, what he was doing in evaluating Dylan, his thinking behind his decisions and what his insights and reflections are since Dylan’s death.
“We are also concerned about future patients if he remains unidentified.”
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Mr Cope took Dylan to A&E at South Wales Hospital on 6 December 2022 from their home in Newport on the advice of a family GP who suspected his “excruciating” pain was appendicitis.
But the note, which read “appendicitis inquiry”, was not picked up and the coroner concluded last month that the schoolboy’s examination by the children’s nurse was “inadequate”.
The web designer said none of the medics identified themselves or stated their medical qualifications when they saw Dylan, but assumed one of them was a surgeon.
Mr Cope said the “doctor”, who was wearing scrubs and a mask, was tall with dark hair, a “slightly darker complexion” and “well spoken”, possibly with a slight foreign accent.
The doctor told Mr Cope it was “highly unlikely” Dylan’s abdominal pain was related to his appendix.
At the inquest, an unidentified doctor said Dylan had tested positive for influenza A, which was raging at the time.
Dylan complained of severe pain on the left side of his abdomen – the appendix is ​​on the right.
Meanwhile, the doctor on duty failed to check Dylan before he was discharged, and his parents advised him to be given pain medication.
But four days later, Dylan’s condition worsened. After his parents made 19 attempts to get through to 111, he was readmitted to Grange Hospital and then transferred to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Surgeons removed his perforated appendix.
But the schoolboy, who was looking forward to “double figures” on his 10th birthday, tragically suffered a cardiac arrest and died when he was taken off life support.
The couple considered whether the “doctor” was really a fraud, but say he seemed familiar with Dylan’s symptoms.
“We have offered the hospital our help in identifying the mystery doctor but they are not accepting it,” Mr Cope said today.
“A child died, so it couldn’t be more important.
“I’m not even asking them to give me their names, I just want to see anonymized photos of them wearing face masks if I can’t see them in person, and ideally hear their voices.
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“I’m sure I’d be able to eliminate some of them as the doctor who saw Dylan that night, and if he’s on the shortlist I hope I can identify him.”
“So I just don’t understand why they won’t accept my help.
“It’s a huge disappointment.
His wife Corinne, a civil servant, added: “We have a lot of unanswered questions for this doctor to answer.
“Who asked him to see Dylan? What would he do differently if he were in that situation again?
“He could still be working in a hospital and seeing kids like Dylan.
“So for the sake of the other families, he needs to give assurances that he has learned from the mistakes that happened that night.
At the inquest, Gwent Chief Coroner Caroline Saunders concluded there had been “a series of individual errors which led to Dylan being sent home from hospital when he should have been” when his father took him to A&E.
“This amounted to a gross failure of basic care,” she added.
In response, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, which runs the hospital, accepted “full responsibility” for Dylan’s death after an “organisational system failure” and apologised.
It now retains CCTV “for as long as it takes”.
The Copes, who have two older children, are now campaigning to raise awareness of appendicitis and the symptoms of sepsis, urging parents: “Trust your instincts before anything else and seek emergency help.”
A spokesman for the health board said: “We are devastated by what has happened to Dylan and our deepest sympathies continue to be with his parents and his entire family.
“We are aware of the ongoing anguish the family is experiencing as we have not been able to identify the doctor who spoke to Dylan’s father.”
“After a formal clinical assessment, the doctor will usually make an entry in the patient’s medical record.
“This was not done in this case and therefore we have no record in the notes to enable us to identify this person
“We considered all possible options to address their concerns and conducted a thorough investigation.
“We have also taken advice from the GMC and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer to ensure we have explored all the options available to us as an organization to identify the individual the family is looking for.
“We have spoken openly and transparently with Dylan’s family and explained that we have taken all possible measures to address their concerns.
“This matter was dealt with during Dylan’s inquest and the coroner has not asked us to undertake any further investigation beyond the action already taken.”