Tuesday 4 October 2022 08:51 PM Hospital apologises to parents after admitting a string of failings led to ... trends now
A hospital has accepted a catalogue of errors led to a baby girl being stillborn after her mother was 'neglected' for hours during labour.
Amy Harrison, 30, and her husband Jamie were excited for the arrival of their daughter Harper in May 2020 after a normal pregnancy.
But the couple were devastated when their child was stillborn at The Royal Oldham Hospital in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, has now admitted a host of failings by hospital staff in relation to the care given to Mrs Harrison and her baby.
The trust concluded that had 'appropriate monitoring been carried out' the findings would have led to earlier delivery, 'with Harper being born alive'.
Jamie and Amy Harrison (pictured together) took legal action against the Royal Oldham Hospital following the stillbirth of their daughter Harper in May 2020, after an entirely normal pregnancy
Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Oldham Hospital, admitted a string of medical failings which contributed towards the child's death
Catastrophic failures on NHS maternity units that led to avoidable stillbirths have cost almost £65 million in compensation payouts over the past decade.
Data analysis seen exclusively by The Mail on Sunday shows that the NHS has been found guilty of negligence in 758 cases of stillbirth since 2010. This resulted in an average payout of £39,000 per family – a total of almost £30 million – along with a further £34.8 million in legal fees.
About 75 stillbirths every year are due to negligence, according to Tommy's, a UK charity carrying out research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth.
About 75 stillbirths every year are due to negligence, according to Tommy's, a UK charity carrying out research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth (file photo)
The findings, from an analysis by Lime Solicitors, come six months after the damning report into a string of baby deaths at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.
And, just last week, the BBC revealed that half of England's maternity units are not meeting safety standards set by hospital regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
While the majority of stillbirths are not preventable – common causes include complications with the placenta, lack of oxygen to the baby and mothers suffering high blood pressure – occasionally the outcome is caused by staff negligence.
Robert Rose, head of clinical negligence at Lime Solicitors which specialises in medical negligence claims, says: 'This includes mothers not being checked appropriately during their pregnancy, a history of diabetes or high blood pressure not being properly monitored, or failing to diagnose and treat an inflection.
'In all my cases, clients are predominantly seeking to establish the truth, an apology and to ensure healthcare professionals learn from their own tragic experiences to prevent making the same mistakes in the future.'
In January, Bekki Hill, a mother-of-three, reached a settlement with Chesterfield Royal Hospital (pictured) in Derbyshire – six years after her daughter was stillborn
In January, Bekki Hill, a mother-of-three, reached a settlement with Chesterfield Royal Hospital in Derbyshire – six years after her daughter was stillborn.
On several occasions Bekki had told medics she thought her baby, whom she named Willow Grace, was in distress and requested an induction, which was denied.
The hospital says it has made improvements to procedures since Willow Grace's death.
Bekki says: 'All I wanted was an explanation and a promise to listen to other women to make sure what happened to Willow Grace doesn't happen again. In order to get the truth, I had to sue, which should never, ever be the case.'
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Mrs Harrison said she was days overdue and left alone in a hospital side room 'all night' without being checked by a doctor or midwife after being induced.
Harper's lack of movements went unnoticed and she died - but she could have been saved, the trust's own investigation concluded.
Mrs Harrison said she got through the majority of her pregnancy just fine, with the expectation that she would give birth normally with Jamie by her side.
But as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold of the country, circumstances radically changed. By May 2020, when Mrs Harrison was due to welcome her baby, she could no longer be accompanied while giving birth because of NHS hospital social distancing rules.
Mrs Harrison said: 'I'd got to almost 42 weeks - 41 weeks and five days - and I'd had no signs at all. I was told to ring the hospital and book an induction. I was getting a bit worried that I was way too far overdue.'
The couple lived in Bury at the time but as Mrs Harrison had been born at The Royal Oldham Hospital - along with her sibling and the children of her friends - they decided to choose the facility for their own baby, believing it was safe.
But 'from the moment' Mrs Harrison called to book in for her induction, she felt 'let down' and 'left alone'.
Mrs Harrison said: 'Stillbirth doesn't even cross your mind. I think as a woman you're made to feel that going to have a baby is totally normal. It's actually petrifying when it's your first baby, and I don't feel like I had any reassurance.
'Because of Covid, you just had to be dropped off at the door and go up to the antenatal ward on your own.'
Hours after starting the induction process on May 18, 'nothing was happening', Mrs Harrison claimed, until she started with contractions. However, the contractions disappeared once she had been given a painkiller.
The next day, now 41 weeks and six days overdue,
