Hospital fined over baby death after ‘concerns ignored’

A BABY who died at 23-minutes-old after her mother’s concerns were “dismissed” could have survived, a court has heard as it handed down a record fine to the NHS trust responsible.

Wynter Andrews died shortly after being born on Sept 15 2019 due to lack of oxygen to the brain following an emergency caesarean section.

An inquest into her death previously found it could have been prevented had staff at the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham acted sooner.

Her mother, Sarah Andrews, said she and her daughter were failed “in the most cruel way” and felt her concerns during labour were “dismissed” by midwives.

It comes after a series of maternity failings across the country. An independent review by senior midwife Donna Ockenden into Shrewsbury and Telford Trust, the largest-ever inquiry into a single service in the history of the health service, was published last year.

Ms Ockenden is now investigating maternity failings at the Nottinghamshire trust where Mrs Andrews was treated. She said she was “not believed” when she told staff a week before Wynter’s death she was in severe pain.

On Sept 10, she returned to the labour ward again, but was not examined and instead sent home with aromatherapy oils and told to have a bath.

On Sept 14, Mrs Andrews was admitted to hospital again but it wasn’t until hours later midwives noticed it was becoming harder to detect Wynter’s heartbeat. Mrs Andrews told the inquest in 2020: “I want to know why they did not listen to my concerns. .”

This week, almost two and a half years after Wynter’s death, Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, which runs the QMC, pleaded guilty at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on two charges for failing to provide safe maternity care and treatment to Wynter and Mrs Andrews.

The trust was yesterday fined £800,000, the highest fine ever issued for failings in maternity care.

In a statement after it was handed down, Mrs Andrews, said: “Sadly, we are not the only family harmed by the trust’s failings. We feel that this sentence isn’t just for Wynter, but for all the other babies that have gone before and after her.”

Mrs Ockenden said more than 900 families from around Nottingham and 400 staff members had come forward to raise concerns about maternity care at the trust.

The trust accepted wrongdoing to the CQC at the earliest stage of its investigation. Anthony May, its chief executive, said: “I am truly sorry for the pain and grief that we caused Mr and Mrs Andrews due to failings in the maternity care we provided.”