Kirkup Report: Treatment of women and babies at East Kent Trust was 'deplorable and harrowing'

• Watch Dr Bill Kirkup reveal the findings of an independent report into maternity services at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.

Dozens of babies died or were left brain damaged by poor care at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, a damning inquiry has found.

Revealing the findings of an independent report, Chairman of the panel Dr Bill Kirkup said the treatment of many women and babies at hospitals run by the trust has been "deplorable and harrowing".

He revealed he had just met with affected families earlier on Wednesday morning, who displayed "a great deal of emotion and substantial amount of anger".

The 182 page study, marks the culmination of an independent inquiry into maternity and neonatal services at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust from 2009, and has been looking at how newborn babies over several years.

Dr Kirkup continued: "When I reported on Morecambe Bay maternity services in 2015, I did not imagine that I would be back reporting on a similar set of circumstances seven years later.

"What has happened in East Kent is deplorable and harrowing."

He added that families received “suboptimal” care, with mothers ignored by staff and shut out from their own care.

• Dr Kirkup described the situation for families as 'deplorable and harrowing.'

“An overriding theme, raised us with time and time again, is the failure of the trust’s staff to take notice of women when they raised concerns, when they questioned their care, and when they challenged the decisions that were made about their care,” the report said.

Of 202 cases reviewed by the experts, the outcome could have been different in 97 cases, the inquiry found.

In 69 of these 97 cases, it is predicted the outcome should reasonably have been different and could have been different in a further 28 cases. Of the 65 baby deaths examined, 45 could have had a different outcome if nationally recognised standards of care had been provided.

When looking at 33 of these 45 cases, the outcome would reasonably expected to have been different, while in a further 12 cases it might have been different.

Meanwhile, in 17 cases of brain damage, 12 (72% of cases) could have had a different outcome if good care had been given, of which nine should reasonably have been expected to have had a different outcome.

In nearly half of all cases examined by the panel, good care could have led to a different outcome for the families.

• Dr Kirkup thanked families who were interviewed and gave evidence as part of the inquiry.

In response to the findings, Chief Excecutive of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, Tracey Fletcher said: “I want to say sorry and apologise unreservedly for the harm and suffering that has been experienced by the women and babies who were within our care, together with their families, as described in today’s report.

"These families came to us expecting that we would care for them safely, and we failed them.

"We must now learn from and act on this report; for those who have taken part in the investigation, for those who we will care for in the future, and for our local communities. I know that everyone at the Trust is committed to doing that.

"In the last few years we have worked hard to improve our services and have invested to increase the numbers of midwives and doctors, in staff training, and in listening to and acting on feedback from the people who receive our care.

"While we have made progress, we know there is more for us to do and we absolutely accept that. Now that we have received the report, we will read it in full and the Board will use its recommendations to continue to make improvements so that we are providing the safe, high-quality care our patients expect and deserve.

"I want every family – whether they contributed to the investigation or not – to know I am here to listen to them, to learn and to lead our Trust in acting on this report. 

"I would like to thank Dr Bill Kirkup and the investigation team for their work. Today, our thoughts remain with those who have shared their experiences. We are grateful to them.”

In a Government statement, Health Minister Dr Caroline Johnson said: “I am deeply sorry to all the families that have suffered and continue to suffer from the tragedies detailed in Dr Bill Kirkup’s review.

“We are committed to preventing families from going through the same pain in future and are working closely with the NHS to continue improving the quality of care for mothers and babies with support teams for trusts, backed by £127 million to grow the workforce and improve neonatal care.

“We take these findings and recommendations extremely seriously and will review them all in detail ahead of publishing a full response.”