A couple being supported by Switalskis’ expert medical negligence team in their search for answers as to why their baby son died just four days after his birth have shared their story with the BBC.

Kianty and Conor Simpson spoke to BBC Wales to express their frustration that they are still waiting for an inquest into their baby’s tragic death almost four years later.

Jacob Simpson died just four days after his birth after suffering a catastrophic lack of oxygen to his brain during labour. The hospital where he was born has since admitted there were failings in his care, and yet nearly four years later, his parents are still waiting for answers about how and why he died.

Family fears other babies may remain at risk as admitted failings go unexamined

Born at Glangwili Hospital, Carmarthenshire, in June 2022, Jacob was resuscitated and transferred to Singleton Hospital in Swansea, where he tragically died four days later.

The impact on the family has been profound. An internal investigation by Hywel Dda University Health Board identified multiple failings in Jacob’s care, including poor communication, failures to inform his parents of concerns, inadequate fetal monitoring, and failures to escalate care appropriately.

The Board has accepted that, but for those failings, Jacob would have survived. However, the investigation did not determine which failings caused his death or fully explain how the tragedy occurred.

Kianty and Conor Simpson were subsequently told that the inquest would be the process through which the circumstances of Jacob’s death could be fully examined.

Nearly four years later, that process has yet to take place.

Earlier this year, with support from their legal team at Switalskis, the couple wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Miles MS, raising concerns about delays to the inquest and the continued lack of progress in securing a hearing date.

At the time, the family had been informed that the Coroner was unable to list the inquest because key witness statements and other documentation had not yet been provided by Hywel Dda University Health Board.

In a response from Mr Miles' office, the family were told that while neither Welsh Government ministers nor officials could intervene in individual clinical cases or coronial proceedings, they were "concerned to ensure that the position you described was clarified" and had therefore sought further information from the Health Board regarding the outstanding material.

The response went on to confirm that the Health Board has advised that all information requested by the Coroner had now been provided and that "the coroner has advised no further information or statements are required from the health board for the inquest to proceed".

While the Coroner has since confirmed this, and has scheduled a second pre-inquest review hearing for July, no date has yet been set for the full inquest, leaving the family still waiting for answers about how and why Jacob died.

The prolonged delays have compounded the family’s grief and left them without answers about the circumstances of their son’s death, despite the Health Board admitting failings in his care. They are now calling for the inquest to be listed as soon as possible so that the evidence can finally be heard and scrutinised in public.

Chantelle Cooper , Associate Solicitor in Switalskis specialist medical negligence team, said: “Kianty and Conor have spent almost four years waiting for answers about how and why their son died.

“At the time, they wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care the inquest could not progress because the Coroner was still awaiting important documentation from the Health Board.

“Although that material has now been provided and a second pre-inquest review hearing has been set, the family still do not have a formal inquest hearing date. After such a long wait, that ongoing uncertainty is incredibly difficult for them.

“The Health Board has accepted that failings occurred and that Jacob would have survived but for those failings. Yet the questions at the heart of this case remain unanswered.

“Inquests play a vital role in establishing the facts surrounding a death, identifying lessons that can be learned, and providing public scrutiny where serious concerns have been identified. Bereaved families should not have to wait years for that process to take place.”

Kianty Simpson said: “Nearly four years on, we are still waiting for answers about how and why our son died.

“We have recently been told that the Coroner now has the paperwork needed to move the inquest forward, but we still do not know when it will happen.

“Every milestone seems to come with another wait. We feel as though our lives have been on hold for years while we try to understand what happened to Jacob.

“We know there were failings in his care, but we still do not know exactly how those failings led to his death or whether lessons have been learned.

“All we want is the truth about what happened to our son.”

Conor Simpson: “The long delays are very unfair and have made this incredibly difficult process even more agonising. For years we have been told that answers would come through the inquest, but we are still waiting for that hearing to take place.

“What matters most to us is understanding what happened to Jacob and making sure those circumstances are properly examined, accounted for and learnt from. “

The family remain determined to secure answers about how and why Jacob died and are calling for the inquest to be progressed without further delay.