Whistleblowers Raise Concern about Patient Safety at Essex Maternity Unit

A number of incidents at a maternity unit in Essex are causing concern over serious failings in care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited Basildon Hospital following whistleblowers alerting the CQC of their fears about patient safety. The tip-offs followed a number of serious incidents where six babies were at risk of brain injury after being starved of oxygen at birth.

An article published by BBC noted that the CQC found unsafe staffing levels at the maternity unit at Basildon Hospital during August 2020. This finding follows the maternity unit being rated as inadequate in June 2019. The rating followed the shocking death of a woman in February 2019 where a mother lost six litres of blood after giving birth via emergency caesarean section at Basildon Hospital. The Independent newspaper noted that the coroner concluded that there had been a breakdown in communication, a lack of leadership as well as a lack of co-ordination and team work. The NHS Trust has since apologised for not enacting improvements quickly enough and stated their services were safe to use.

Following the leaked report of the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust maternity scandal detailing the number of deaths of both mothers and babies, it appears that lessons have not been learnt by maternity units in the wider NHS. The findings from the most recent CQC inspection of Basildon Hospital noted a number of concerns including the fact that only four shifts had safe staffing levels in August 2020, expectant mothers at high risk of complications had given birth in the low risk part of the unit and required safety meetings at shift handovers did not occur. The levels of skill and experience of the staff was also found to be concerning.

The NHS Trust responded to the findings by stating they had a robust improvement plan in place and that significant action had been taken since the CQC visit. Only time will tell whether lessons have indeed been learnt from another devastating death within an NHS maternity unit.

The NHS is understandably stretched due to Covid-19 but these findings pre-dated Covid and it is important that as a nation we do not accept falling standards in the care of pregnant mothers and delivery of babies.

The clinical negligence team at Lanyon Bowdler has extensive knowledge and experience in dealing with birth injury cases and handles an extensive caseload of maternity-related cases. If you, or someone you know, has been affected by a birth injury, our friendly team will be happy to discuss the matter with you in confidence. Please contact us.