The NSW government's investigation into the death of a newborn boy who was mistakenly given nitrous oxide gas instead of oxygen in a Sydney hospital will begin on Friday.
NSW Health is pushing ahead with the probe despite calls from the NSW opposition for a fully independent inquiry.
Obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Michael Nicholl will investigate the circumstances leading up to the death of baby John Ghanam, who was given the nitrous oxide at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital minutes after he was born on July 13 - a month after the same error left a newborn girl with suspected brain damage.
Details of the investigation came as Health Minister Jillian Skinner confirmed the parents of baby John will receive a one-off compensation payment.
"I have told them they will get a one-off compensation payment that has been approved outside the legal system," Ms Skinner told 2GB.
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The family of the baby girl involved in the June mix-up will also be compensated.
Meanwhile, details have emerged about how an oxygen supply cut out while another newborn was being resuscitated at the same hospital in January 2014.
The baby was transferred to the special care nursery for more oxygen and survived.
While the incident sparked an upgrade of the hospital's oxygen supplies, there was a mix-up in the installation of the nitrous oxide pipelines in the operating theatre where baby John was born, Ms Skinner told 2GB.
Ms Skinner has apologised for the "devastating error" and defended the five-day gap between her discovery of the erroneous gas lines and her call to both parents on Tuesday.
"They were in the care of clinicians the whole weekend," she said.
"I was not about to jump the gun until that settled. I always intended contacting those parents."
Labor Opposition Leader Luke Foley said an independent parliamentary inquiry should cover the "communication failures" with the affected families.
"Clearly, the health minister is stonewalling and digging in. An independent parliamentary committee is one of the few options available to get information about the events at Bankstown-Lidcombe hospital," he said.
