A hospital trust is to be prosecuted over the death of a baby who died 23 minutes after being born. 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.
Now, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust would be prosecuted over "failure to provide safe care and treatment". Fiona Allinson, CQC Director of Operations - Midlands Network, said: “We have now concluded our investigation into the care provided to a mother and her baby by Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust.
"As a result of that investigation, we intend to prosecute the trust for its failure to provide safe care and treatment under Regulation 12(1) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 (RAR 2014) and will report further as soon as we are able to do so.”
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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.
An inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court heard 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.
It comes after a string of failings involving the NUH maternity services. Nottingham families affected by maternity failings say they have been given hope after meeting the midwife in charge of a new review.
Donna Ockenden met with parents, some of whom had babies who died or suffered serious injuries, in the city on Monday, July 11. NUH's scandal-hit maternity services at Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital are rated 'inadequate' by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
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. It came one month after more than 100 families wrote to former Health Secretary Sajid Javid.
A heavily-criticised initial thematic review was scrapped midway through. 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.
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.”
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