Poor care may have led to the deaths of 45 babies, with 97 cases of harm, injury or death to mothers overall which may have been avoided in east Kent, a major maternity inquiry has found.
The review looked at more than 200 cases spanning more than a decade of maternity failings by East Kent Hospitals University Trust and found a “pattern of recurring harm” at the trust.
It was found that in 97 out of the 202 cases, the outcome for the mothers or babies could have been different. Of those 45 babies deaths may have been avoided, 12 babies may not have suffered brain damage and in 23 mothers may not have died or been injured.
In 54 patients care they found failings but determined this would not have changed the outcome.
The review was led by Dr Bill Kirkup, who also led the 2015 review into the failings at Morcambe Bay hospital that led to the deaths of 16 babies and three mothers.
Speaking at a press conference Dr Kirkup said what had happened in east Kent was “deplorable” and “harrowing.”
“When I reported on Morecambe maternity services in 2015. I did not imagine the courtroom or similar set of circumstances seven years later,” he said.
If you have been impacted by poor maternity care or failings email rebecca.thomas@independent.co.uk
Dr Kirkup has said in a letter to the health secretary Therese Coffey that the failings in Kent are not a “one-off”, warning if the NHS does not begin to tackle poor maternity care more inquiries will follow.
Reviewers said from a series of reports from 2009 to 2020 meant failings were visible to senior managers and the trust board, and that problems could have been acknowledge and tackled.
The report, published Wednesday, has found:
The probe, led by Dr Bill Kirkup, was commissioned by the government after The Independent revealed more than 130 infants suffered brain injuries during birth at the trust over several years.
Dr Kirkup and the review team has called for national action and warned “this must be the last such moment of failure, with the lessons leading to improvement not just locally but nationally.”
The scandal was exposed by the family of baby Harry Richford who died after a catalogue of errors by maternity staff in November 2017. A coroner ruled his death was the result of neglect and “wholly avoidable”.
In a landmark case, the trust was fined £761,000 following prosecution by the Care Quality Commission for the trust’s failure to protect baby Harry Richford and his mum Sarah Richford from avoidable mistakes that led to Harry’s death.
Emma Robinson and daughter Daisy
In October last year the CQC found staff shortages at the hospital had left midwives working 20-hour days with little time for a break.
The report follows the Shrewsbury Maternity scandal review published earlier this year which found failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust led to the deaths and brain injury of more than 250 babies.
More to follow…
Emma Robinson’s, daughter Daisy died in 2014, just hours after her birth.
Sarah and Tom Richford
