Top Scots hospital is at heart of probe as stillbirth rate soars
AN INVESTIGATION into the deaths of 24 babies is under way after the stillbirth rate in part of Scotland soared to more than double the national average.
Health bosses launched the probe after 18 stillbirths in the first three quarters of last year – and have since added six more.
Many of the deaths occurred at a newbuild hospital described as ‘one of the most modern and well-equipped in Europe’.
News of the review by NHS Forth Valley comes as it was revealed one bereaved mother has received an apology and £37,500 from the board in an out-of-court settlement after disturbing blunders.
Helen Fyfe, 43, lost her baby, Olivia, after staff removed a foetal heart-rate monitor before a caesarean section – but failed to reconnect it during a seven-hour delay in carrying out the surgery.
That meant medics could not see the baby’s condition deteriorate and she was declared dead as Mrs Fyfe lay on the operating table.
Another patient is also suing the same health board following the death of her baby.
Those cases follow that of Sarah Mackinlay, whose baby son Marcus was stillborn after his foetal heartrate monitor was switched off. She received £15,000.
Patient representatives and politicians described the stillbirth rates as ‘very concerning’ and urged the board to act ‘to prevent any further risk to patient safety’.
The review came to light in minutes of a meeting recently put before NHS Forth Valley board.
They said ‘ . . . NHS Forth Valley had noted a higher than expected rate of still births and a review of this was nearing completion’. At that time, 18 cases were being reviewed.
Data from the National Records of Scotland show that in the first three months of last year there were six stillbirths in Forth Valley, a rate of 8.8 per 1,000 births – nearly double the Scottish average of 4.6.
That rose to nine in the second quarter – a rate of 11.9, compared to 4.8 throughout Scotland. In the third quarter the number was six, or a rate of 7.9, against 4.5. NHS Forth Valley confirmed a total of 24 stillbirths during 2016, all of which are included in the current internal review.
The 18 referred to in the minutes of the Clinical Governance Committee were those which had occurred prior to October 2016, when this meeting took place.
The board added that while most women in the region gave birth at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, stillbirths could happen at home or before admission to hospital and that not all the cases being reviewed occurred in hospital.
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: ‘These figures are very concerning as in [quarter one] alone, the hospital in question had double the number of still births compared to the Scottish national average.’
Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘The stillbirth rate in Forth Valley is worryingly high. To be consistently above the Scottish average points to serious underlying problems, and it’s only right that a review into these incidents is under way.’
Mrs Fyfe, of Denny, Stirlingshire, was told the news her baby, Olivia, was dead moments before she was due to be delivered.
She and husband Gary then faced the devastating realisation that but for a series of medical blunders, their baby might have been saved.
An NHS investigation later revealed appalling blunders in the care of Mrs Fyfe and baby Olivia. In a letter to the couple, the NHS admitted it was ‘probable that Olivia would have survived had she been delivered earlier’.
NHS documents reveal that a foetal heart-rate monitor was delayed during her wait for delivery, meaning staff were unaware of her deteriorating condition.
Mrs Fyfe was not put in the labour ward when she could have been seen. It was also revealed that staff levels were low and those on duty were ‘overstretched’.
Mrs Fyfe sued NHS Forth Valley and has now won an apology from health bosses and received payment of £37,500.
She said: ‘I blame them 100 per cent for what happened. They killed my baby.’
NHS Forth Valley said: ‘We recognise the number of stillbirths occurring in the first half of 2016 was higher than the national average which was why we took the decision to carry out an internal review.
‘We are also arranging an independent external review.’
‘They killed my baby’