Nottingham hospital trust to be prosecuted over death of baby 23 minutes after birth
A Nottingham hospital trust will be prosecuted over the death of a baby who died 23 minutes after birth.
An inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court concluded baby Wynter Sophia Andrews may have survived if it wasn't for "gross failing" by staff in her care.
It ruled Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust contributed to the death of baby Wynter, who died less than half an hour after being born - on September 15, 2019.
Wynter's mother Sarah Andrews said she felt her concerns were dismissed leaving her "desperate, forgotten about, and abandoned."
Ms Andrews, a council worker who lives in Mansfield, was admitted to the hospital the day before giving birth at nearly 40 weeks pregnant.
An investigation by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) ruled 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 from the Queen's Medical Centre said they were "overworked and understaffed" and told the court they didn't feel able to professionally challenge colleagues.
Fiona Allinson, CQC Director of Operations in the Midlands, said after a thorough investigation into the care provided by staff the healthcare regulator decided to prosecute for "failure to provide safe care and treatment".
“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.”
It comes after a string of failures from the NUH maternity services.
Following a recent inspection, the CQC rated maternity services at Nottingham City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre remained inadequate and requires improvement.
Unannounced inspections at the trust in March led to initial ratings of inadequate and required improvement.
Now, an independent inquiry investigating the failings at Nottingham hospitals will begin in September.
Senior midwife Donna Ockenden was appointed chair of the inquiry after leading a review into maternity services in Shrewsbury.
She met with families on Monday (July 11) where she described the importance of listening to the families to help improve maternity services.
Families affected by the Nottingham maternity failures say they feel an "immense relief" after the review gets underway and hope improvements are made.