Family criticises East Kent NHS over herpes inquest delay

Samantha Mulcahy (left) and Kimberley Sampson died weeks apart after being operated on by the same surgeon

The family of a woman who died of herpes after potentially being infected by a surgeon have accused an NHS trust of causing them more "pain and grief" by delaying the inquest into her death.

An inquest into the deaths of Kimberley Sampson and Samantha Mulcahy was due to be heard from Monday in Maidstone.

But East Kent NHS Trust made an application for reporting restrictions which put off the hearing to April.

A senior coroner has asked the NHS to explain the reasons for the delay.

Both women died from herpes infections six weeks apart having been treated in hospitals run by the East Kent NHS Hospitals Trust in 2018.

A BBC investigation previously revealed the two women had been operated on by the same surgeon and an inquest was announced in December 2021.

The case will now not be heard until mid-April following a request by the trust's barrister for the names of the surgeon and a midwife to not be reported in the media - 16 months since the inquest was announced.

Media organisations including the BBC and PA have argued both medics should be named. The coroner will make a ruling next Tuesday.

After the hearing was adjourned, Ms Sampson's mother, Yvette, issued a statement which said: "While the feeling of hurt and loss at Kim's death has never gone away, those feelings have really come to the fore again over the last few weeks as we thought that the time was coming for us to finally get answers."

She said: "The most important thing should have been to establish how two young mums died and how their children have been left without their mummies."

Kim Sampson's mother said the most important thing should have been to establish how two young mums died

On Wednesday, coroner Catherine Wood described the distress the delay was causing for the families.

She said senior coroner Patricia Harding wanted an explanation for the trust's late application for reporting restrictions, and evidence to back it up.

The trust's lawyers first mentioned the possibility of applying for reporting restrictions in a hearing last May, but the request for reporting restrictions was not received until Sunday.

Clodagh Bradley KC, representing the trust, said they had only received a statement from a witness recently, which led to the application.

Jemma Lee, representing the Sampson family, said this was a "repeated pattern of behaviour" by the trust.

In 2018, 29-year-old barber Ms Sampson became seriously ill after her baby was delivered at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital, Margate.

She was transferred to Kings College Hospital in London where she was diagnosed with a herpes infection and died on 22 May 2018.

Six weeks later, 32-year-old nursery nurse Mrs Mulcahy died from an infection caused by the same virus at the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford.

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