A LEGAL expert says the family of a ten-year-old boy who died from meningitis could have a strong case for suing the hospital that treated him.

William Cressey died after staff at Darlington Memorial Hospital failed to spot that he was suffering from the deadly brain disease, and even sent him home thinking he was making a recovery.

His family are in the process of suing the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust for negligence.

Ashley Wilson, head of the Newcastle Law School at Newcastle University, said their chances of success in the case were good, after the hospital staff’s conduct was heavily criticised during the three-day inquest into William’s death this week.

The hearing exposed a series of failures by doctors and nurses, who did not monitor his condition effectively and decided against giving him antibiotics until it was too late.

Mr Wilson said last night that the family could win the case if they could prove that William had not been properly observed by staff, who then made the wrong decisions. He said: “The family will be furious with the hospital for missing their son’s diagnosis, and they will want this never to happen again.

“If there was a failure to observe him while he was in the hospital’s care, there would certainly be a case. Perhaps that observation could have picked up a decline in his condition sooner, which would be crucial in a fastdeveloping disease like meningitis.

“Did that failure lead to what later happened? That could be the case in such a quickly developing condition, and that would form a much stronger case.”

Kris Inskip, the solicitor working on the Cressey family’s behalf, said papers had been served and they were now waiting for the NHS trust’s reply.

He said yesterday: “The key question is... would William have lived?

“We are very confident of success in the case, particularly in light of the various errors that came to light as a consequence of the inquest.”

A spokeswoman for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said: “It would not be appropriate to say anything at this time while legal proceedings are going on.”