Cambridgeshire paramedic struck off for telling woman that blood from her miscarriage looked "festive"

A paramedic who told a woman who was having a miscarriage that the colour of her blood was "festive" has been struck off.

Lucy Bambridge was found to have made a string of inappropriate comments when she and a colleague were called to the woman's home in November 2017.

The patient, who was not named during the disciplinary hearing, was under the care of the Rosy Maternity Unit of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where a scan showed her baby had died.

She was sent home to return 48 hours later to deliver, but rang 999 when she began to suffer contractions and bleeding. She delivered the dead baby while Ms Bambridge and a colleague were in her home.

A Health and Care Professionals Service Tribunal hearing was told Bambridge, who was working for East of England Ambulance Service, at one point said: "I don't know what to do."

The patient told the tribunal: "I can't begin to tell you how terrifying it is to hear that in a situation like this."

"I was horrifically asked if we had anything to put our baby in," she continued. "'A Tupperware box or something in your kitchen?' We were speechless."

Allegedly, the paramedics giggled nervously.

"In trying to disperse the awkward atmosphere, one girl knelt forward to meand said, 'At least it's not poo, we are bored of poo! Anyway, red is festive'," the patient said.

Ms Bambridge's colleague, an emergency medical technician, said: "It appeared to me that this comment was made in relation to the festivities of Christmas as it was November."

The patient also complained about her treatment when the umbilical cord, which was still attached to the baby, was cut.

She said: "The time had now come to cut the dreaded cord. A very significant part of any normal labour and normally celebrated.

"You can imagine my surprise and shock when the pair of scissors was waved in celebration with a big grin in the direction of my husband, implying that he could do it for them. I just looked up at her and said, 'you must be joking'.

"They went to cut the cord. The girl holding the scissors said to me, 'Let's get this cut. You don't want all of this hanging out of you do you?' Another unforgivable remark."

Ms Bambridge, who resigned in December 2017 and now lives in Australia, said in a statement to the panel: "I feel deeply saddened that the patient feels this way regarding this incident. At the time, I did the best I could with the limited training I had received from the trust.

"I had no intention of ever making anyone feel uncomfortable or unduly distressed. I have always maintained a high standard of professionalism required of me."

The panel decided she should be struck off the register.