Medical Lawyers Call For Improvements After Coroner Finds That 61 Hour Delay Led To Baby’s Death
21/06/2011
Medical law specialists at Irwin Mitchell have urged a Yorkshire hospital to learn lessons after a combination of staff and equipment shortages led to a newborn baby dying because of a 61 hour delay in his delivery.
Sarah Dawson, 34, and her partner, Philip Schofield, from Leeds, were left devastated when their son Oliver was born unresponsive at Dewsbury and District Hospital and sadly died on 15 July 2010. The coroner found that a delay in inducing labour “materially contributed to Oliver’s death”.
Ms Dawson and Mr Schofield were thrilled at the prospect of starting a family when she became pregnant with her first baby in late 2009. The pregnancy was uneventful until her waters broke on the evening of 12 July 2010, when she was 37 weeks pregnant.
The couple attended Dewsbury and District Hospital the same evening but it was not until 61 hours later that their baby, Oliver, was delivered by caesarean section. Oliver was born unresponsive and attempts to resuscitate him sadly failed.
Today, Coroner Professor Paul Marks criticised the care Ms Dawson received at the hospital throughout the birth and recorded a narrative verdict at a hearing in Bradford. He raised concerns that the hospital had failed to implement new procedures 11 months after Oliver’s death, despite its own investigation revealing that staff failed to keep to the correct care plan and didn’t keep appropriate records during the birth.
Professor Marks now plans to write to the Trust’s Chief Executive to raise his concerns that, even though the hospital conducted its own investigation into the case, nothing has been done to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring.
He also commented that the current practice at Dewsbury and District Hospital, which does not allow patients to be induced in the evening, causes “a built in delay” as patients are forced to wait till the following morning.
Law firm Irwin Mitchell is representing Oliver’s parents and its solicitors are calling on the NHS to act urgently on the findings from the inquest and investigation to ensure important lessons are learned from the errors in this case.
Suzanne Munroe, a Partner in the Medical Law team at Irwin Mitchell, said: “This is an extremely sad case which could and should have been prevented. The delays in delivering Oliver are inexcusable and we are extremely concerned that the hospital has still not changed its procedures despite the fact that there is clearly an issue.
“As it stands, if another expectant mother was to attend Dewsbury and District Hospital in the evening they would still be sent away, and this could lead to exactly the same scenario developing again.
“Urgent action must be taken to change the policy so that patients are able to be induced in the evening or at the latest the following morning. Nothing can ever be done to turn back the clock, but Oliver’s family want to know changes are being made to prevent this kind of tragedy in the future.
“Irwin Mitchell has repeatedly called for improvements in safety standards and will continue to campaign for the victims we represent until simple mistakes like these are eradicated.”
Oliver’s mother, Sarah Dawson, said: “Philip and I have been completely devastated by the loss of our son, and it is horrible to know that his death was due to a simple lack of care being available to us when we needed it.
“We hope the Trust will acknowledge that they made mistakes in our case and can apologise for the loss they have caused us. I find it hard to get through each day knowing that Oliver should still be with us.
“Changes need to be made to prevent this from happening in the future. No one else should have to go through what Philip and I have.”
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