East Kent maternity failings led to 45 baby deaths, damning report reveals

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The review looked at more than 200 cases spanning more than a decade of maternity failings by East Kent Hospitals University Trust and found a “pattern of recurring harm” at the trust. The report, published on Wednesday, found: Gross failures in team working, with a series of problems between midwives, obstetricians, paediatricians and neo-natal services “Dysfunctional teamworking” and poor behaviour clouded the response to safety incidents “Uncompassionate care” Repeated failures to listen to families Problems among the midwifery staff and obstetric staff were known but not addressed Regulatory system failed to identify shortcomings early enough and clearly enough open image in gallery The trust’s failings were examined between 2009 and 2020 The probe, led by Dr Kirkup, was commissioned by the government after The Independent revealed more than 130 infants suffered brain injuries during birth at the trust over several years. open image in gallery Sarah and Tom Richford were told their baby’s death was ‘wholly avoidable’ In a landmark case, the trust was fined £761,000 following prosecution by the Care Quality Commission for the trust’s failure to protect baby Harry Richford and his mum Sarah Richford from avoidable mistakes that led to the child’s death. The report follows the Shrewsbury Maternity scandal review published earlier this year, which found failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust led to the deaths and brain injury of more than 250 babies.