Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust fined £800k

The Trust received its massive fine after admitting failings over death of a new-born in an ‘inadequate’ service.

The BBC has recently reported that the Nottinghamshire University Hospitals NHS Trust has been fined £800k after failings during birth lead to the death of Wynter Andrews, less than a year after Queens Medical centre is rated as inadequate by the Care Quality Commission in Maternity.

Wynter Andrews was born in 2019 at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottinghamshire. In which Wynter died from hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (loss of oxygen flow to the brain). Nottinghamshire Magistrates’ Court heard a “catalogue of failings” which posed “a significant risk of harm” to Wynter and her mother.

Wynter’s death which was due to lack of oxygen flow to the brain, was due to a combination of “umbilical cord compression during labour” and infection.  After, having been expressed as been delivered “in poor condition” on 15^th September 2019, efforts to resuscitate were abandoned 23 minutes later.

Nottinghamshire University hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Anthony May said he was “truly sorry for the pain and grief” caused. Further adding “we let them down at what should have been a joyous time in their lives”.

On the 27^th May 2022 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) issued their most recent report on the Queens Medical Centre Nottinghamshire rating overall the maternity department as inadequate.

The CQC note in regards to the safety of the services provided that ‘in February 2022 there was an overall compliance rate of 62% for mandatory training and compliance against the trust target of 90%’ as well as that the ‘service did not have enough staff to care for women and keep them safe’.

Furthermore, the CQC also stated that ‘Not all staff had training in key skills and staff did not always assess all risks to women’ in its services.

The Maternity services at Queens Medical Centre have been rated as ‘inadequate’ since 2020 by the CQC. The Trust says it has increased investment in training and equipment as well as worked to address the findings of the CQC and implemented a number of changes in its maternity services.

This latest report comes only weeks after Nottingham University Hospitals declared a critical incident which led to all non-emergency treatment being ceased

Carol Cook the head of Clinical Negligence at Oakwood Solicitors comments:

“It is saddening to hear what has happened to baby Wynter and we offer our sincere condolences to the family.

It is encouraging to see that the CQC are recognising problems and failings and are using the full extent of their powers to penalise hospitals for their failings.

It is shocking and disappointing that it had to come to this and that the hospital didn’t have appropriate measures in place to prevent such incidents in the first instance, especially in light fo the CQC report concluded in March 2019 that identified improvements that the trust needed to implement for their maternity services.”

Further reading

Hospital negligence – Oakwood Solicitors

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