Grieving parents say Nottingham City Hospital 'missed opportunities' after one-day old baby dies

Exclusive: ITV News Central Health Correspondent Nancy Cole reports on a mum of a day-old baby who died at a Nottingham hospital

The parents of a baby boy, who died less than 48 hours after birth, have spoken to ITV News Central for the first time about the "multiple missed opportunities" by Nottingham University Hospitals Trust in his care.

Teddy Rozkalns was born on November 23, 2020 at Nottingham City Hospital, weighing 5lb 5oz. His weight should have triggered midwives to monitor his blood sugar levels before sending him home.

He died a day later, on November 24, 2020.

In October 2021, an inquest was unable to determine the cause of Teddy's death but concluded there were "undoubtedly failings" by Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, which it accepted.

Staff were unaware of updated guidelines, a misunderstanding that had been going on for at least five years.

Kim Errington, Teddy's mum said: "I was just so shocked at how wrong they could have got it and the fact that staff were supposed to be working from policies and procedures that are in place.

"But they weren't. They just hadn't. They hadn't done their basic job."

Kim said: "Babies have died since Teddy and until changes are made and lessons are actually learned, it's not going to stop. It's just heartbreaking."

The loss of their much-loved, much-wanted baby boy has devastated the couple's lives. 

Jason Rozkalns, Teddy's dad said: "Trying to get used to ways of being, ways of existing, which is pretty much what the last year and a bit has been, is just an existence, it's not a life."

Kim said: "I don't know who I am anymore. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I was supposed to be Teddy's mum."

Nottingham University Hospitals Trust said in a statement: "We are truly sorry that we didn't identify the correct pathway of care when Teddy was born.

"We have made significant changes to ensure our staff know the correct care needs for babies with low birth weight since this tragic incident."

An independent review into maternity services at Nottingham is underway.

There are currently 67 families involved. Many families have called for a full public inquiry into failings. 

A spokesperson for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England and Improvement said: "We established the thematic independent review to help us drive through the changes needed to maternity services in Nottingham as we work with local families, as well as NHS staff to make rapid improvements wherever weaknesses are found."

They continued: "We have been clear from the outset that the aim of this review is to make changes and improvement in real-time, rather than waiting for the publication of a report and will ensure that the trusts acts on all the findings of the review over the coming weeks and months."

The CCG added, it welcomes and encourages the involvement of any families as the review makes progress. It is set to conclude in November.

The changes include charts on each weighing scale so midwives can easily see whether the birthweight should trigger the care pathway for hypoglycaemia. 

The Trust has also created an alert on the digital record system to remind staff to check baby’s weight against the guidelines when they enter the baby’s details.