GRIEVING families have been left with more questions than answers, says the mother of one of the seven children whose deaths at Bristol Children’s Hospital led to an inquiry which has criticised care there.

Four-year-old Warminster boy Sean Turner was one of the children who died in Ward 32 after receiving poor care following complex heart surgery in 2012, prompting the inquiry, which involved 237 families whose children were treated by the hospital.

An independent NHS England report, which took two years to complete, was published today and says staffing levels within the hospital were low, putting the ward under strain and causing deaths.

While 32 recommendations have been made in the report for University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, NHS England and the Department of Health, Sean’s mum Yolanda Turner, who had hoped for reconciliation, is still not satisfied.

She said: “We were promised answers but don’t feel like we have many. One bit that shocked us is that a doctor who was in charge of looking after Sean wrote an e-mail in September 2011 saying that the ward was unsafe, but Sean was later placed in that ward anyway.

“The doctor then went on holiday after Sean’s surgery, as his state worsened. In our opinion there wasn’t a proper handover which meant that nobody was in control of Sean’s care.

“In the report there doesn’t seem to be any accountability or consequence. The only vindication from this report is that recommendations have been made to make the ward safer which will help children not only in Bristol, but in hospitals all over the country.”

The Turners have been campaigning since Sean’s death in March 2012. An inquest heard that the hospital “lost opportunities” to help him.

The review reached the conclusion that, on occasions, the senior managers of the hospital failed to understand and respond effectively to the concerns of parents and adopted a defensive position in the face of the Care Quality Commission’s observations.

Robert Woolley, chief exexutive of the trust, said: “We are deeply sorry for the things we got wrong, for when our care fell below acceptable standards, for not supporting some families as well as we could have and for not always learning adequately from our mistakes.

"This undoubtedly added to the distress of families at an already very upsetting time for them. We didn’t get it right for these families, and I’d like to apologise to the families unreservedly.”

“We’re pleased that the review found evidence of really good care and acknowledges the substantial improvements we have made, but we want to get our care right for everyone, every time, especially so when it involves children.”