£3.5m paid out after maternity units’ errors and incidents
MORE than £3.5m has been paid out in compensation following mistakes and serious incidents in maternity units at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board (UHB).
A Freedom of Information request (FOI) obtained by the Western Mail has revealed that £3,575,687 was paid to families by the scandal-hit health board between 2016 and 2019.
The total relates to failings in maternity units at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, in Llantrisant, and Prince Charles Hospital, in Merthyr Tydfil.
Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB said the £3.5m figure only includes “closed” cases where all investigations have concluded, all costs (damages, defence and claimant) associated with the claim have been settled and there are no outstanding actions required.
Here is a breakdown of the compensation payouts by year:
■ 2016: £907,989.36
■ 2017: £1,637,563.66
■ 2018: £886,364.25
■ 2019: £143,770
■ Total: £3,575,687.27
To put the figures into context, the health board could have used that money to pay the salaries of 116 midwives (£30,740) or 42 consultants in emergency medicine (£85,000), for an entire year.
Both maternity units have been under serious scrutiny following an internal review by a consultant midwife in October 2018.
Her report highlighted systematic failures in clinical care, inadequate reporting of incidents and missed opportunities for improvement. It also raised staff concerns about a “punitive culture of blame” within the units.
Following her findings, an independent report was carried out by the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists which found similarly shocking failures.
In the wake of the publication of the colleges’ report, Cwm Taf ’s maternity services were put into special measures – the highest level of government control – with the health board as a whole placed in targeted intervention.
However, a panel set up to oversee progress has noted there are now “encouraging signs of progress” at both units 18 months on from the problems first being raised.
Kylie Lewis, from Gilfach Goch, claimed the care given to her and her baby daughter, Brianna Osmond, who died at just 13 days old, was unacceptable.
The 30-year-old said the lack of regular check-ups on Brianna, who was at risk of meconium aspiration after pooing during delivery, left her feeling neglected.
She also claimed Brianna suffered a fracture to her leg at birth which was recorded on her death certificate but not picked up by staff at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital before they were discharged.
Just 13 days later, Brianna tragically died, in September 2016, and it is still unknown to the family what the cause was.
“They should have been checking her stats every hour and offered both of us antibiotics if there was even the smallest chance of infection,” said Kylie, who also has two sons aged six and four.
“She was a very teary baby at birth, but I just put that down as normal. It was only when I took her home and moved her leg that she began screaming in pain.
“Even though I only had her for