NEW MATERNITY DEATHS SCANDAL
REVEALED: Probe finds 60 babies and mothers have died or suffered serious harm at ONE hospital trust – three times more than first thought
MORE than 60 babies and mothers are feared to have died or suffered devastating harm at a maternity unit.
An investigation began last January into 23 suspicious incidents at the Shrewsbury and Telford hospital trust.
But the Mail can reveal that this number has almost trebled to at least 63.
The vast majority of the cases involve the deaths of babies and mothers during childbirth. The rest include babies suffering lifelong harm. Some parents say they were
pressured into natural births in midwife supervised units. They claim that a caesarean or forceps delivery would have stopped their babies suffering brain damage.
A number of deaths are blamed on midwives not monitoring foetal heart rates properly. All the cases occurred between 1998 and 2017.
Experts believe the failings could be even worse than those at the Morecambe Bay hospital trust in Cumbria, where 16 babies and three mothers died in 12 years.
A source familiar with the issues in both trusts said: ‘The scale of this could put Morecambe Bay into the shade.’
Concerns were first raised about the Shrewsbury and Telford maternity unit in 2009 following the death of Kate Stanton-Davies, just six hours after her birth.
A report found her death was avoidable and it criticised two midwives for failing to realise the birth was high risk and for ignoring her parents’ concerns.
Since then, dozens of other parents have come forward fearing their babies’ deaths could have been avoided.
In April 2016, Pippa Griffiths died at a day old from a preventable infection that was not picked up by midwives.
Jack Burn died from the same infection – group B streptococcus – in March 2015, only 11 hours after he was born.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt launched a review into the trust in January 2017. The investigation is being overseen by NHS Improvement, the hospital regulator, and Donna Ockenden, a senior independent midwife. It had been due to conclude this year.
But the hospital has now confirmed it is aware of 40 other cases.
The most recent involved the death of a 26- year-old mother who died from complications in childbirth in December 2017. Two babies also died that month. Grieving families are now urging Mr Hunt’s successor, Matt Hancock, to intervene and broaden the scope of the review.
Rhiannon Davies, the mother of baby Kate, whose death triggered the investigation, said: ‘This is the most toxic hospital in England.
‘It repeatedly puts mothers and babies at risk by failing to learn from its mistakes. It has fought us since 2009.
‘Kate is not baby number one. Yet no one bothered to learn and so sealed her fate – and mine, and that causes me almost unbearable pain.
‘We’re talking about avoidable deaths. The Health Secretary needs to step in.’
Kayleigh Griffiths, the mother of Pippa, said: ‘All families that have suffered at the hands of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital deserve to be included under the Ockenden review. Otherwise things will be missed and there will be no learning.
‘We trust Donna Ockenden to do a good job but the trust is not open to change.
‘There are going to be more cases as families are coming forward.’
The NHS’s maternity services are struggling to cope with a high birth rate, more complex deliveries to obese and older mothers and a shortage of midwives.
Concerns have also been raised that some midwives are obsessed with natural births and reluctant to get doctors involved even when labours start to go wrong.
Several families involved in the review say midwives ignored their concerns, including Mrs Davies and her husband Richard.
The 40 new cases – uncovered by Health Service Journal – were identified as part of an internal ‘legacy review’ carried out by the trust.
The trust is also being investigated by the Care Quality Commission over concerns that patients in other departments are being ‘treated like cattle. A warning letter sent to managers last week said patients were being treated in corridors.
CQC inspectors said they were alerted to the problems by staff during an inspection. The letter read: ‘Staff across all areas and grades raised concerns with us about this practice and told us they felt it was unsafe, demeaning, undignified, and disgusting.
‘Two staff members told us they felt patients who were boarded were treated like animals and cattle.’
A spokesman for NHS Improvement said it would examine any extra cases. Dr Kathy McLean, its executive medical director, said: ‘Our independent review will consider everything it can to ensure Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is equipped to learn from the previous failings in its
‘No one bothered to learn’
maternity and neonatal services. This includes continuing to examine the 23 historical investigations identified in April 2017, as well as investigations that have been highlighted since then. Working with CQC and others, we will ensure the trust has the right support in place to continue to improve its services for patients.’
Jo Banks, women and children’s care group director at the Shrewsbury and Telford trust, said: ‘ The reviews that Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals has commissioned independently from the Secretary of State-led review focus on many aspects of our maternity services.
‘We believe this gives us the best opportunity to look at all the care we provide to learn and improve.
‘ By working with external experts we can assure ourselves that we continue to learn and develop our service.’
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘We take any patient safety concerns extremely seriously.
‘We have asked NHS Improvement to investigate whether further cases at Shrewsbury and Telford should be considered as part of the Ockenden Review, as well as assurance that the trust has taken steps to improve maternity services since these issues came to light in 2016.’