Baby deaths and calls for investigation and changes to maternity care in Sussex are not being taken seriously

The Times published an article on the 10th October 2024, during Baby Loss Awareness Week, highlighting another example of the Department of Health not taking seriously evidence of poor care resulting in nine infant deaths in three years due to poor care, this time by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.

Concern is growing that numbers may be higher as women do not always know that deaths are a result of failures at the hospital.

Despite the ‘duty of candour’ to advise a patient when there has been significant harm or the potential for significant harm, women are still left in the dark, often blaming themselves.

Katie Fowler, who lost her daughter, Abigail, as a result of failures at Royal Sussex Hospital told Times Radio.

“One of the big issues with problems in maternity care - because trusts are quite often reluctant to own up to mistakes - is that we actually don’t know what the numbers are. There might even be families that don’t know they’ve been affected, whose baby had died and they don’t necessarily have all the facts.”

“What is happening at Sussex is probably being repeated at many other Trusts across the country and it’s going to come to a point where it is no longer possible to deny the fact that we need a national inquiry into maternity services because too many families have been let down and it has to stop.”

In this case, Katie underwent an emergency caesarean section at the reception of the hospital, having suffered cardiac arrest. She was placed in an induced coma for two days and on coming around witnessed the neonatal death of her daughter.

Since the inquest, she has highlighted eight other cases where families were led to believe deaths were ‘rare’ or ‘unexpected’.

Katie Foster urged Wes Streeting, the new Labour Health Secretary, to apply a fresh set of eyes on the situation.

Katie is another woman in a long line calling for a national maternity enquiry.

Common problems throughout the country relate to a lack of shared communication and accountability. There is a real failure to join the dots, take a statement of fact promptly, and learn. This is why, we as lawyers, see the same complaints and a growing number of calls for a maternity enquiry.

Despite a National Health Service, Trusts act independently. I see the hospitals making the same mistakes and not sharing information. There is no national executive body that checks whether action points from investigations have been carried out.

The September 2024 report from the Care Quality Commission Investigation (CQC) into maternity services looks at the quality and safety of maternity services, confirming that the risk of harm is widespread.

I have recently finished a case for a mother who was discharged without a speculum examination after reported regular contractions. Her baby was born breech at home with the assistance of paramedics. The ambulance, midwifery and neonatal specialists were waiting in the reception to the maternity ward at Preston Hospital to resuscitate the infant and the ambulance was re-routed to the emergency department. The baby was not successfully resuscitated. In that case, the mother raised several questions and recommendations and learning points were flagged. My Client was never told whether the steps identified were taken. The obstetric registrar who failed to do the simple speculum test left the Trust and it is not known what, if any retraining was received. It is known that they now work in a neighbouring Trust.

It is clear from the frequent reports in the media and the encouragement of women to film births in the case of tragedy, that there is a relationship of distrust brewing.

Katie Fowler has urged the Health Secretary to listen to stories and understand the enormity of the trauma. At Forbes Solicitors we urge women to stand together, share their stories, have their voices heard and drive change.