Two-year-old baby boy, William Burton has been left deaf, blind, and brain damaged after suffering an undiagnosed case of meningitis.

Wellington Hospital staff have understandably come under heavy criticism for this apparent lapse in diagnostic care.

Makes me wonder if people ever stop to consider the massive amount of care these facilities are obliged to undertake every day. The case of William Burton is a tragedy, about that there is no doubt; but what about all the cases of deadly illness they do diagnose – the countless lives they do save.

The question was long ago raised regarding adequate funding of New Zealand’s Public Health sector; take into account the frequency of serious illness – including paediatrics – that is pushed through public hospitals on a daily basis and one might not be so surprised that a single case of meningococcal is overlooked…

Going back a few years the same kind of oversight took place at Christchurch Public Hospital; a ‘misdiagnosis’ resulted in the death of my best friend. This twenty-five-year-old, giant of a man was suffering excruciating back pain. Doctors were quick to pass it off as a slipped disc, gave him painkillers and sent him away. A simple blood test would have diagnosed the presence of spinal sepsis, but as is typical of a public hospital, they were overrun and presumably, understaffed.

…I soon learned it is unreasonable to blame the hospital for such a mishap. Many inflammatory words were thrown around at the time of my friend’s death – negligence, incompetence, misdiagnosis – as I am certain William’s parents are doing. It doesn’t make a difference. Accept that this is a terrible tragedy for all involved and leave it at that.

Since Dean’s death in April 2007 I have come to realise that as much faith as we place in the doctors and nurses of New Zealand’s Public Health sector, as much reliance and expectation as we load onto their shoulders, these people are only human.

They do so much good for the nation that I think it’s unfair to blame them for the miniscule amount of bad that sometimes befalls them.

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by William Burton

Photography by Rip Dean Carroll