NHS Trust faces criminal prosecution over “wholly avoidable” baby death
9th October, 2020
The CQC has today announced the intention to charge East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust with two criminal offences over the death of baby Harry Richford in November 2017.
The Trust will be charged with exposing baby Harry, and his mother Sarah Richford, to a “significant risk of avoidable harm” under Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. This is thought to be the first prosecution of its kind, as the allegations relate to failings in the standard of clinical care, when compared to previous CQC prosecutions which have related to health and safety issues associated with hospital premises.
On 2 November 2017, Sarah Richford was admitted to the labour ward and was administered syntocinon, a drug used to speed up labour. Concerns were subsequently raised regarding pathological CTG readings, but these concerns were not acted upon promptly. Following a failed attempt at an instrumental delivery using forceps, a junior locum doctor proceeded to perform an emergency caesarean section. Harry was delivered at 3.32 a.m but as a result of the delay in delivery and resuscitation failings, he suffered irreversible brain damage, and died seven days later on 9 November 2017.
An inquest took place into Harry’s death during which the Coroner concluded that his death was “contributed to by neglect” following “wholly avoidable” catastrophic failings in his care. During the inquest, the Coroner heard expert evidence that Harry should have been delivered at 2.00 a.m, within 30 minutes of concerns being raised about his heartbeat, but he was not delivered until some 92 minutes after this.
A statement by the Trust’s Chief Executive, Susan Acott, confirmed:
“We are deeply sorry and apologise unreservedly for our failure to provide safe care and treatment, resulting in the death of baby Harry in November 2017. Mr and Mrs Richford’s expectation was that they would welcome a healthy baby into their family. We are deeply sorry that we failed in our role to help them do that and for the devastating loss of baby Harry. We recognise the mistakes in both Harry’s delivery and subsequent resuscitation and that Harry’s family was not given the support and answers they needed at the time. We deeply regret the extra pain that this caused them. The Trust has admitted to the CQC that it failed to provide safe care and treatment, for which we are profoundly sorry.”
In 2018, Ian Trenholm, Chief Executive of the CQC, warned Trust bosses that the regulator would not hesitate to take action where it found “patterns of behaviour or systematic failings that have resulted in serious harm or death.” He stated that “prosecution will only happen at the end of a long road of enforcement action” and was not intended to “scapegoat” individuals, but to drive systemic change and to ensure lessons are learned.
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