Furness General midwife struck off after baby deaths scandal

A senior midwife at the heart of a baby death scandal has been told she "brought the profession into disrepute" as she was struck off the medical register.

Jeanette Parkinson, the former maternity risk manager at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, admitted misconduct due to "inadequate" reviews into the deaths of two mothers and four babies.

Between 2008 and 2009, Ms Parkinson did not inform the health authorities about a string of her fellow midwives' shortcomings in the care of patients who later died.

In several cases, neither the quality of care nor standard of midwifery was further scrutinised due to Ms Parkinson failing to pass on information about the slip-ups.

This failure meant expectant mothers and their babies faced "unwarranted" risk in the future, an independent disciplinary panel found.

The panel announced at the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) on Tuesday that Ms Parkinson should no longer be allowed to practise.

Chairman Matthew Fiander said: "Ms Parkinson was expected to ensure that inadequate practice was identified and appropriately addressed.

"The public place trust and confidence not only in individual midwives but also in senior midwives to support junior colleagues, to hold them to account, and to properly manage clinical risk.

"In failing to adhere to these expectations, Ms Parkinson has brought the profession into disrepute.

"Ms Parkinson has breached a fundamental tenet of the profession in failing to provide a high standard of practice and care at all times."

An inquiry in 2015 found a "lethal mix" of failures at the trust led to the unnecessary deaths of 11 babies and one mother between 2004 and 2013 at the maternity unit of Furness General Hospital.