A hospital trust has issued an apology after it was revealed it would be prosecuted by a health regulator following the death of a baby. Wynter Andrews may have survived but for "gross failings" in her care by staff at Queen's Medical Centre, an inquest concluded at Nottingham Coroner's Court.
On July 14, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust would be prosecuted over "failure to provide safe care and treatment".
The inquest into Wynter's death heard how Nottingham University Hospitals Trust's neglect in care contributed to the death of baby Wynter Andrews, who was pronounced dead just 23 minutes after being born on September 15, 2019. Wynter's mother Sarah Andrews, a council worker who now lives in Mansfield, says she felt "desperate, forgotten about and abandoned" after being admitted to the hospital the day before.
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An inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court found staff failed to recognise Ms Andrews was in established and not latent labour, failed to act on high blood pressure readings and carried out four "inaccurate and insufficient handovers" to colleagues as part of a catalogue of errors in the lead up to baby Wynter's death. Midwives at the Queen's Medical Centre told the court they were "overworked and understaffed" and said they didn't feel able to professionally challenge colleagues at the hospital.
NUH have now issued a statement in response to the CQC's decision to prosecute the trust. Chief Executive of Nottingham University Hospitals Rupert Egginton said: “We are deeply sorry that we failed this family, and apologise unreservedly for the mistakes we made at the time.
“We have taken action to address the failings that led to this tragic loss and introduced a range of improvements designed to offer the best maternity care to families using our services.
“But we know there is a lot more work to do, and are committed to supporting the work of Donna Ockenden’s review team, which alongside the work of our own improvement team, will ensure we do everything necessary to learn and improve.”
Donna Ockenden met with parents, some of whom had babies who died or suffered serious injuries, in the city on Monday, July 11. Ms Ockenden, who uncovered 200 avoidable baby deaths at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust across two decades, was hired in May to conduct a similar review in Nottingham.
The CQC can prosecute for a breach of this regulation or a breach of part of the regulation if a failure to meet the regulation results in avoidable harm to a person using the service or if a person using the service is exposed to significant risk of harm.
The regulator does not have to serve a Warning Notice before prosecution. Additionally, the CQC may take other regulatory action and has to refuse registration if providers cannot satisfy the watchdog that they can and will continue to comply.
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