The family of a baby boy who died in a fatal gas mix-up at a western Sydney hospital has accused NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner of making its pain worse.
The boy died and a newborn girl suffered suspected brain damage after they were mistakenly given nitrous oxide instead of oxygen at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital in June and July this year.
RELATED STORY
'Tragic errors' in fatal baby gas mix-up
The boy's family has sharply criticised Ms Skinner, who did not front the media on Saturday, for the timing of a final report into the deadly bungle.
"The family's pain and suffering have been further exacerbated by the insistence of the minister for health in providing both the interim and final reports of the chief health officer to them and their legal representatives without sufficient time to consider them properly prior to their public release," the family said through their lawyers.
"The minister has continually stated she is deeply sorry for the pain and suffering caused to the family. The timeliness of the release of these reports has done nothing to relieve that."
The family said they were deeply distressed by the systemic failures at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital which led to their baby boy's unnecessary death in July.
"If proper processes had been followed regarding the installation and testing of the gases, this tragedy would never have occurred," they said.
"The family are hopeful that those responsible for these failures are brought to account and that procedures are put in place so that something like this will never happen to any family again."
The NSW coroner will investigate the boy's death.
