The families of two women who died with herpes after giving birth have hit out at what they called “disgraceful” behaviour by an NHS trust in their five-year fight for answers.
Kimberley Sampson, 29, and Samantha Mulcahy, 32, died in 2018 after having Caesarean sections conducted six weeks apart by the same surgeon at hospitals in Kent.
Both hospitals are run by the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust (EKHUT).
An inquest into their deaths has focused on how the mothers came to be infected with the virus, and their subsequent care.
At an inquest hearing in Maidstone on Friday, coroner Catherine Wood gave a summary of her findings, suggesting both women could have been given an antiviral treatment sooner, and that particularly in Ms Mulcahy’s case “suspicion should have been raised” given the knowledge among staff already of Ms Sampson’s earlier death.
But the coroner pointed out it was “much more difficult” to say that Ms Mulcahy should have been prescribed antiviral medication and whether it would have made “more than a minimal or trivial difference to her outcome”.
Ms Wood also ruled out human culpability of any of the medical staff involved in the case and said it was “unlikely” for the surgeon to be the cause of the herpes infection found in both women.
Speaking after the hearing, Samantha Mulcahy’s mother, Nicola Foster, and stepfather, Mark Trainer, said the coroner’s summing up was incorrect and that they won’t give up searching for the truth.
Ms Foster said: “It’s become very apparent during this inquest we were never going to get to the truth of why the trust covered up and shut us out at every opportunity.
“They have tried to punish us for having help from the BBC… The trust have been untruthful, dismissive and members of trust staff including surgeon doctors have behaved arrogantly, defensively as if they are untouchable.”
She added: “Both families will always believe the death of Kim and Sam were because of something they acquired once in hospital and we have no reason to believe otherwise.”
Can’t give up yet, I don’t feel we’ve got to the real truth— Nicola Foster
Referring to an expert witness called by the coroner, Ms Foster added: “We believe the coroner’s decision was based solely on her witness and some of the summing up was incorrect.”
Asked by reporters if the fight was over with the inquest conclusion, Ms Foster said: “No, can’t give up yet, I don’t feel we’ve got to the real truth.”
Ms Sampson gave birth to her second child at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, in May 2018, and died at the end of the month in a London hospital.
In July 2018, first-time mother Ms Mulcahy died at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent.
The coroner said: “This is a rare but often fatal disease and more needs to be done to raise awareness of it.
“All of the evidence suggests early recognition is more likely to raise a positive outcome.”
The inquest previously heard in April how the surgeon, who cannot be named for legal reasons, could have been a potential source of the infection.
But the surgeon told the inquest his hands were fully scrubbed, double gloved and he was wearing a mask during procedures.
He also said he had no lesions and was not infected, though he had not been tested.
The coroner said those involved who suggested it was the surgeon were trying to “plug the gap” with a possible explanation but she ruled it was unlikely and that “statistical coincidences can occur”.
The hearing on July 14 also heard a legal challenge from the BBC and the PA news agency to lift the anonymity order applied for by the trust to stop the surgeon being named.
EKHUT argued its anonymity order was to protect the reputation and mental health of its staff member from what it claimed would be damaging media reports of the case, but the media’s bid argued the fears for the surgeon were speculative.
Ms Foster, however, said she still believes there is a link between her daughter’s death and the surgeon due to the way the EKHUT has tried to “shut the door in their face” when they’ve tried to ask questions.
Yvette Sampson, Kimberley Sampson’s mother, also said: “The trust didn’t really listen to me, they were more focused on trying to get the issues to go away.”
Ms Sampson said how the process over the last five years has “changed her as a person” and she finds it “hard to comprehend” how the trust has acted.
Ms Sampson said: “The last five years have felt like a real fight for answers.”
Standing alongside Ms Sampson’s father, Louis Sampson, the mother said she will “always be angry and upset” over what they’ve had to do to get to the truth of Ms Sampson’s death.
Anna Vroobel, the family lawyer, also said in a statement that the inquest showed the failing in Ms Sampson’s care by the trust failing to provide her with antivirals.
Urging the trust to learn the lessons of this case, Ms Vroobel said: “Patient safety should be a fundamental priority.
“We continue to see too many families whose lives have been shattered.”
The coroner is expected to give narrative conclusions for both Ms Sampson and Ms Mulcahy on July 26.
Ms Wood also adjourned her decision over the anonymity order until the same hearing.
A spokesperson for East Kent Hospitals said: “We would like to express our sincere condolences to the families of Samantha Mulcahy and Kimberley Sampson.
“We are unable to comment further until the inquest has concluded.”
