Essex Police have launched a double investigation into the circumstances surrounding surgery at two Essex hospitals.
The investigation will look into the circumstances surrounding the death of nine-year-old Tony Clowes at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, and the problems witnessed during an operation on a man at Basildon Hospital.
On July 18, Tony, of Fieldway, Dagenham was due to have the top of a finger stitched back on at Broomfield Hospital. An air tube during the surgery is believed to have had a blockage and Tony died of oxygen starvation.
On August 2, a man in his 40s went into Basildon Hospital for an operation when a similar blockage in the oxygen pipe was experienced, police said.
An Essex Police spokeswoman said: "There was believed to be a blockage in the oxygen pipe, similar to the Tony Clowes operation, but doctors were able to take steps and the patient had a successful operation."
Tony's parents were informed of the widened police investigation.
The police spokeswoman added: "Obviously they are both Essex Hospitals and both incidents occurred in a short space of time and this has warranted an investigation."
Det Supt Win Bernard, based at Essex Police Headquarters in Chelmsford, will head the police probe.
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