Police probe 15 deaths on crisis-hit baby ward
POLICE are investigating the deaths of 15 infants in 12 months at an NHS hospital baby unit criticised for staffing shortages and serious failings.
Senior managers at the Countess of Chester Hospital alerted detectives because of a ‘higher than usual’ death rate among premature and sick newborns at its neonatal unit.
Officers are also looking into six other non-fatal cases of babies who suffered an unexpected medical collapse and needed life-saving treatment.
The inquiries follow a damning report earlier this year from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), which found that staffing at the hospital’s baby unit was inadequate.
But the review could not find a reason for the rise in baby deaths from June 2015 to June 2016.
It identified significant gaps in medical and nursing rotas, insufficient senior doctor cover, poor decision making and a reluctance by some staff to seek advice from colleagues.
While just two babies died on the unit in 2013 and three in 2014, mortality rates jumped to eight deaths in 2015 and by June last year five babies had already died there.
Of the 15 baby deaths being examined by police, 13 occurred at the hospital, and two were at hospitals trusts where the newborns had been transferred for specialist treatment.
The mortality rate rise prompted the hospital to stop caring for babies born before 32 weeks and to close its three intensive care cots in July last year.
Last night Melanie Robinson, 34, whose premature son, Noah, died following a catalogue of blunders at the hospital, welcomed the police involve- ment. She said: ‘It is good that there is a police investigation and the hospital has gone to them voluntarily.
‘In Noah’s case staff shortages meant blood tests and X-rays were not assessed for seven hours and there was one doctor on duty who was splitting his time between the neonatal ward and the children’s ward.
‘The fact that his condition worsened on a Saturday night and Sunday morning, when there were less senior staff on duty and the nearest specialist was 40 miles away at Alder Hey was a factor.’
Police said last night that it was ‘too early’ to rule out foul play, but confirmed that no individual was under suspicion or had been arrested.
Similarities have been identified in the sudden deterioration and the unexpectedness of the deaths.
Ian Harvey, the hospital’s medical director, said: ‘Throughout this we have never lost sight of the families left bereaved by the loss of their baby, and they will continue to be our main con- cern. At every point where the hospital has been able to share information with families and the public, we have done so.
‘Approaching the police is not something we have undertaken lightly. This is to ensure we have been completely thorough in understanding what has happened here and to get the answers we and the families so desperately want.’ A hospital spokesman said there had been no deaths on the unit since July last year.
The RCPCH report found nurses had expressed concerns about the capabilities of one locum doctor and, despite seeking reassurances that he would not be re- employed, he was allowed to return.
While consultants visited the neonatal unit daily, there was a reluctance to seek their advice, the report found.
It added that consultants should have had a ‘greater presence’ on the ward, which was capable of looking after 20 babies at one time.
It also found post-mortem examinations of babies who died on the unit had not included systematic tests for toxicology, electrolytes or blood sugar.
The report made 24 recommendations, including that the unit’s death and near miss review procedures were strengthened and said the area’s Child Death Overview Panel should consider whether it could have detected the cluster of deaths more swiftly.
Justine Jones, a clinical negligence lawyer for Slater and Gordon in Chester, who is representing the parents of several babies who died, said: ‘The hospital has taken the highly unusual step of calling in the police to investigate these deaths, which will come as a shock to the families.
‘The death of a child is a terrible thing to have to deal with under any circumstances and now they are left wondering what happened to deem such involvement necessary.
‘The parents we have spoken to want answers and hopefully the police’s involvement will ensure they get them.’
‘Too early to rule out foul play’