A TODDLER died of meningitis after errors by hospital staff meant he was not properly treated until it was too late to save him, health bosses admitted today.

Ethan Smith's family claimed he died after a catalogue of neglect and ignorance at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn.

Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Trust has admitted that the 13-month-old boy would probably have lived if he had been properly cared for, and has settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of compensation after legal action for breach of duty.

Today they apologised to Ethan's family and said steps had been taken to ensure nothing similar happened again.

Although the senior house officer who examined Ethan at Queen's Park Hospital has since left the Trust, none of the staff have been disciplined. Ethan's mum Michaela Smith and grandmother Jacqui Helleur took Ethan to Blackburn Royal Infirmary's casualty department after he had a fit on Christmas Day morning two years ago.

Although he showed classic signs of meningitis -- vomiting, spots, stiff neck, dislike of light, fever, and a blank stare -- Mrs Helleur claimed she was told not to fuss by staff after he had been transferred to Queen's Park Hospital children's department.

According to his family, Ethan, who lived within minutes of Blackburn Infirmary and was taken to hospital when his mum flagged down an ambulance, received no treatment except Calpol until Mrs Helleur noticed bruises covering his body 12 hours after they arrived at BRI.

He was then transferred to Booth Hall children's hospital, Manchester, where he died three days later.

Mrs Helleur, of Blackburn, said: "It was Christmas Day and they didn't want to know. "Due to their negligence, they went home to their families and ours will never be the same again.

"The little boy we took into hospital was a little angel but by the time he died he was covered in bruises. He was so swollen, he was too heavy to pick up."

She said she was still full of guilt for not having insisted on Ethan's treatment earlier on when her daughter had trusted her to look after him.

"I didn't want to bother them any more. I'd been told I was an over-anxious grandmother and to stop fussing, there was nothing wrong with him.

"It's so obvious looking back, but I'm not a nurse. I kept going to them and then in the end I gave up.

"Maybe if I hadn't given up, he would still be alive. I feel it's my fault and that's hard to live with."

Dr Simon Nadel, a consultant paediatrician who later examined Ethan's records for the family, said: "Any conventional regime of antibiotics would have been effective against the disease and would have given Ethan the best chance of survival.

"The signs of evolving severe illness were ignored by nursing staff. It is unacceptable that a child as unwell as Ethan should have been left without medical attention of any kind for the nine hours he was on the ward."

At the time of Ethan's death, Trust chief executive John Thomas said Ethan was not showing symptoms of the disease when he was admitted.

The Trust did not admit staff had failed in their duty to investigate, diagnose or treat Ethan earlier until October last year.

Legal documents relating to the case show that the trust admitted that Ethan would probably have survived if he had been given the proper care.

A spokeswoman said the Trust could not say why staff had not been disciplined or why doctors and nurses had ignored Ethan's symptoms and refused to test for meningitis, as the matter had been dealt with by lawyers

She said staff had been given more training following the incident.

Today, Mr Thomas apologised that Ethan's care had fallen below the expected standard.

He said: "Paediatric medical and nursing staff were deeply upset by Ethan's sudden deterioration and subsequent death. We are extremely sorry that Ethan died and will ensure that lessons are learned from this tragic event.

"The Trust's initial investigations did not identify a problem with Ethan's care. However, as these investigations continued, shortcomings were identified.

"In light of this a review of the Trust's observation and communication systems has been undertaken and a number of improvements have been made to prevent a similar tragedy occurring again."

Mrs Helleur said that, although Michaela had since had a baby girl, the family still kept a shrine for Ethan and bought him birthday cards and presents for his grave.

Kim Metcalfe, of Farleys solicitors, acted for the family and said they had agreed a "nominal" amount of compensation.

Family's four crucial questions:

lIF, as the family insist, an A and E doctor detected five classic symptoms of meningitis, why did a nurse later suggest Ethan had a sore throat and that his parents may want tot take him home?

lWhy did a second doctor refuse to do the glass test and dismiss suggestions of meningitis?

lWhen, as his family described, Ethan vomited red fluid, why did a nurse suggest he had choked on his own fingers?

lWhy has nobody been disciplined?