Four cancer-stricken children died at Great Ormond Street Hospital after a series of failures in stem cell transplants at the world-renowned hospital, an inquest has heard. The young patients, aged between one and 12, were among eight children whose transplants failed when the stem cell freezing system - used in life-saving operations - inexplicably stopped working. Four children went on to recover. But well-known charity fundraiser Sophie Ryan Palmer, 12, one-year-old Ryan Loughran, four-year-old Katie Joyce and Muhanna al-Hayany, also four, died between July and October last year. The children's hospital has now admitted that Katie might have survived if it had acted more quickly to resolve the problems.
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Patients, aged one to 12, among eight children whose transplants failed
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Concerns arose in 2013 after operation on fundraiser Sophie Palmer, 12
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Hospital says Katie Joyce, 4, could have been saved if quicker action taken
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Lawyers have also accused hospital of taking too long to stop transplants
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Doctors 'regret' not stopping sooner but decision seemed right at time
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Ryan Loughran, 13 months, and Muhanna al-Hayany, 4, also died last year
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Seventeen months on, investigations are still ongoing into exact cause
Concerns were first raised in June 2013 when @placeholder, who had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, failed to make progress after her transplant.