East Kent NHS safety failures still exist after baby death review, trust says

An independent review in October found that at least 45 babies might have survived

Maternity staff at an NHS trust where dozens of babies died are not all carrying out safety checks months after a damning report, a meeting has heard.

At least 45 babies might have survived with better care at East Kent NHS, an independent review found last October.

Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Sarah Shingler told a board meeting on Thursday not all staff understood safety was part of their role.

Families said it was "horrific" that basic safety was not being followed.

After the meeting, Phil Linehan, grandfather of baby Ashton, whose case formed part of the Kirkup inquiry after he died 10 years ago, said: "It is their job and they must do that."

He added: "It should be every single day, everyone's job, and it's horrific that 10 years on, they are still not following the basic safety procedures."

Phil Linehan said it was "horrific" that basic safety was not being followed

Ms Shingler told the board all staff were fully-trained, but said: "The challenge that we are dealing with is how do we get our staff to actually understand that safety checks are part of their professional role."

She said: "What we can't do is constantly, 24 hours a day, be alongside each and every member of staff making sure that they are applying those principles and doing their safety checks and following guidelines robustly."

BBC South East health correspondent Mark Norman said there was visible anger in the room from some of the public attending.

Ms Shingler said some staff did not see it was their responsibility to check emergency equipment before using it, and to follow guidelines when carrying out hourly patient reviews.

She said the trust was unable to suspend and remove people from clinical duty because it needed to run a service.

Board members heard the head of midwifery and matrons now carried out daily checks but some staff felt they were being asked to do "over and above".

She said: "We need to start holding people to account to do their jobs."

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].