NHS Trust pleads guilty to failing to provide safe care to baby
NHS Trust pleads guilty over ‘wholly avoidable’ death of seven-day-old boy at scandal-hit hospital where doctors refused to work weekends
- The NHS trust has pleaded guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment
- Harry Richford died in November 2017, seven days after his emergency delivery
- Inquest found his death at Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate was ‘wholly avoidable’
A scandal-hit NHS trust has today pleaded guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment following the death of a baby boy, in the prosecution of its kind.
Harry Richford died seven days after his emergency delivery at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate.
An inquest later found that his death in November 2017 was ‘wholly avoidable’.
At Folkestone Magistrates’ Court in Kent today, the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust admitted failing to provide safe care and treatment to Harry and his mother, Sarah.
Harry’s parents Tom and Sarah Richford today said they had ‘some sort of justice’ after spending years fighting for change.
His mother said after the hearing: ‘We’ve got some level of justice that means that although Harry’s life was short, hopefully it’s made a difference and that other babies won’t die.’
‘If somebody had done this before Harry was born he may be alive today.’
Sarah and Tom Richford with their son Harry, who died seven days after he was born in November 2017
The maternity unit of the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate
At an inquest into Harry’s death last year, Coroner Christopher Sutton-Mattocks said Harry should have been delivered within 30 minutes.
But instead he was delivered after some 92 minutes.
The coroner also found that an inexperienced doctor was in charge of the birth, and there was a failure to request support from a consultant earlier.
Harry’s mother Sarah, a teacher, was considered to be ‘low-risk’ during her pregnancy.
She had been taken to theatre for an emergency Caesarean section on November 2, 2017.
After arriving at hospital, Mrs Richford was given a drug to speed up labour over a period of 10 hours – a decision which was criticised by the coroner, because it hyper-stimulated Harry.
She was rushed to theatre after he began to show signs of distress, where medics tried to deliver with forceps before performing an emergency section.
Locum registrar Dr Christos Spyroulis, described by the coroner as ‘inexperienced’, delivered Harry at 3.32am.
It emerged in the inquest that there was no record of the doctor being assessed, and he had said that he was not asked about his level of experience.
The coroner said staff nurse Laura Guest, who had been called to help with the emergency delivery, had described the scene as ‘chaotic’, adding she ‘didn’t feel it was being strongly led’.
Resuscitation began after Harry was born ‘silent and floppy’ and not moving.
Mr Sutton-Mattocks said the situation must have been ‘terrifying’ for Mrs Richford, as there were between 20 and 25 people in the theatre.
The inquest heard that if Harry had been resuscitated within ten to 15 minutes of birth, he would not have suffered the irreversible brain damage that killed him.
Anaesthetist Dr Dhir Gurung stepped in after 28 minutes to intubate Harry, an action praised by the coroner, who said it gave the family seven days to spend with the baby.
Harry was then transferred to the intensive neonatal unit at William Harvey hospital, where he died on November 9.
Mr Richford said the East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust knew there was an ‘extreme risk to pregnant women and neonatals in their care’ at the time of Harry’s birth.
The trust pleaded guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations.
Harry’s father Tom Richford (with wife Sarah) pictured outside court in January last year
The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) has been investigating East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust since July 2018 following a series of baby deaths.
An independent report published last April by the Department of Health and Social Care outlined 24 maternity investigations undertaken since July 2018, including the deaths of three babies and two mothers.
Dr Bill Kirkup, who led the investigation into serious maternity failings at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, has been appointed to carry out an independent review into East Kent Hospitals’ maternity services.
