SUDDEN RISE IN BABY DEATHS BAFFLES DOCS
WHISTLEBLOWER BLAMES STAFFING CRISIS
A WHISTLEBLOWER has hit out as NHS bosses urgently investigate why unexplained deaths are at their highest in a decade.
So far this year 470,073 people – including 2,212 babies – being treated within the health service have died. It is the highest number since 2009, and up more than 22,000 from the same period last year. The insider warned it is the “biggest crisis the NHS has ever faced”.
Westminster has announced it has commissioned an “excess deaths” review to look into why more people than ever are dying in the UK.
And now a whistleblower from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) – the organisation which inspects NHS trusts, independent hospitals and GP services – has exposed the true extent of misery on hospital wards.
Our source revealed: “These figures are genuinely terrifying. And each week they are showing rising numbers of people dying, hundreds extra every single week. What on earth is going on?
“In January alone an extra 6,346 people died compared to average numbers for the last five years and in the first quarter of the year, from January to April, an extra 20,215 deaths were recorded.
“More than 2,000 of these victims are tiny little babies under one year of age, that is genuinely terrifying. These are not deaths that can be put down to excuses like underlying health issues or having the flu, flu levels have been pretty much average this year in fact. No, this is fully down to incompetence.
“Newborn babies are dying because of a lack of staff keeping an eye (on them) and because new mums lack the confidence and experience to know whether something is wrong.
“No parent is at fault, but expert eyes are missing vital indicators that there is A GRIEVING mum has told how her newborn baby died of neglect at the hands of nurses.
Marcia Duberry, 34, left little Kiarah, who was fine at the time, alone to shower at Birmingham Women’s Hospital in February this year but then found staff resuscitating her.
The infant’s death was recorded as an accidental fluid overdose at her recent inquest, with senior coroner Louise Hunt slamming the hospital. She told them to “take action to increase staffing levels”.
Kiarah was being fed a supplement through a tube and, during a something wrong because they do not have the time or the manpower to be diligent.”
Earlier this year it was announced that the infant mortality rate in England and Wales has risen for two consecutive years. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health warned the death rate could be 140% higher than in comparable wealthy countries by 2030,
The whistleblower said: “Babies are vulnerable, the elderly are vulnerable and it is the vulnerable who are being badly let down and who are dying. We estimate there is a shortage of around 100,000 nurses UK-wide. 100,000. Just think about what that number means.
“The inquiry into why so many extra people are dying was announced in the summer and no deadline has been set for the inquiry report. It is a shambles and I fear, a cover-up.” The CQC insider added: “NHS staff are often – and rightly so – dubbed unsung heroes, but the fact is there is not enough of them. And something needs to be done. People are being let down and it is being swept under the carpet. Lives are being lost. This is the biggest crisis the NHS has ever faced.”
The CQC, along with the British Medical Journal, made calls in May for a review to be held into the worrying mortality rates.
In June the Government confirmed it would look into the spike in deaths. Our insider warned: “If you are someone relying on the NHS right now, you have every right to feel anxious. I have never seen it this bad. When this report is done, I don’t think it is going to make for very happy reading.” shift switch, both the old and new tubes were left attached. At the time of the tot’s death the ward was funded for nurses to deal with 85% occupancy, a number exceeded on the day.
The devastated mum and her partner Januk AIlen, of Birmingham, have vowed to take legal action against the hospital. She said: “I am angry and want