Joshua’s mother, Kimberley Bradder, told the inquest she noticed a substantial change in her son’s presentation on 27 June.
“While he did have his eyes open, they did not fix on anything – he was like a completely different baby,” she said.
“He was not responsive, he no longer smiled and it was difficult to say whether he could hear or see.”
Consultant paediatric neurologist Dr Mark Atherton told the court scans revealed Joshua had sustained severe brain damage caused by low blood pressure and was suffering from symptomatic epileptic seizures.
He, as well as Dr Judith Short, a consultant in paediatric anaesthesia, agreed that the brain injury could have been prevented.
Dr Short said a subsequent investigation found several failings had contributed to the injury, such as failure to highlight that Joshua might be more vulnerable to further complications post-surgery.
There had also been a lack of clarity around how his blood pressure target was being measured, she said, which led to a delay in treatment.
