Leicester maternity units review urged after baby deaths

Families called for external scrutiny following the deaths of the babies

Parents are calling for an independent review into Leicester's maternity units following the deaths of their babies.

It comes after safety at the units at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leicester General Hospital were rated inadequate after an inspection earlier this year.

The families said there were failings with their care and called for external scrutiny of maternity services.

The Leicester's hospitals trust said improvements were ongoing and some changes had already been made.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors, who visited the two maternity units in the spring, found care had deteriorated.

They rated safety as "inadequate" and downgraded the overall ratings at both units from "good" to "requires improvement".

Hospital staff told inspectors they were being "pushed to the brink" by low staffing levels, which risked patients' safety.

Inspectors also found some people's care had been delayed for up to six hours as doctors were not available, which had resulted in patients discharging themselves from hospital.

The report also highlighted issues with cleanliness and the age of some of the equipment.

Preeti and Hrushi Joshi, parents of Ansh, said they were considering legal action against the trust following their son's death

The parents of Ansh, who died from brain damage two days after being born in April 2022, said a homebirth was agreed even though their baby was found to be "quite big" during scans and weighed more than 4kg (8.8lb).

Mother Preeti Joshi said midwives "didn't think much of it" as she was not diabetic or obese and said she was told "only small babies were given growth scans" when she questioned his size.

She said she was not given "any options" for an alternative form of delivery.

After four hours of labour, the homebirth was eventually abandoned and Mrs Joshi was sent to Leicester Royal Infirmary by ambulance, which she believes should have been sooner.

The 34-year-old said she was not listened to when she said the "pain had changed... and it was a more constant excruciating pain".

'Systematic failure'

She recalled that when she arrived at the hospital the correct equipment was "not ready" and it took staff about 30 minutes to locate a working one.

"My uterus was rupturing," she said. "They didn't see all the symptoms were emerging and at no point was it communicated that it was an emergency situation."

The pharmacist said she felt "very let down" and "frustrated" with the level of care she received.

She said she agreed with the damning CQC report, adding there was a "systematic failure" in the service, which had "completely ruined our whole family".

Her husband and Ansh's father Hrushi Joshi said the system was "not fit for purpose".

"Red flags should have been picked up," he said. "The CQC report is merely a start or scratching the surface.

"My child died. I'm really angry about it and they'll have to answer for it."

The couple, who are considering legal action against the trust, believes a public inquiry into Leicester's maternity service will lead to change.

Mason's parents have taken legal action against Leicester's hospitals trust following his death in January 2022

Baby Mason was delivered stillborn on 30 January 2022, with his cause of death recorded as pre-eclampsia.

His mother Ellie Harrington claimed staff at Leicester Royal Infirmary failed to respond correctly to her symptoms of pre-eclampsia.

An investigation found there were multiple failings in her care.

Mason's grandmother Jo Holland said she was not surprised at the CQC's findings.

"I'm really angry," she said. "One of the main safety recommendations that we've had in our report was the implementation of new equipment and it hasn't been implemented.

"The denial is at the forefront of this. You can't mark your own homework that's why there needs to be an independent look at this."

Ms Harrington and her partner Aaran Hodges have taken legal action against the trust since his death.

Mason's grandmother Jo Holland said safety recommendations had not been implemented since his death

Julie Hogg, chief nurse at University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust, said a new director of midwifery had been appointed to strengthen staffing, alongside about 50 new midwives.

She said the trust had also invested in new equipment, was carrying out daily safety checks and had already made rapid improvements to the levels of cleanliness in the maternity units.

Ms Hogg said: "We apologise sincerely to any families that have experienced maternity care which fell short of the standards they should expect.

"We follow nationally prescribed processes to understand the reasons behind deaths in our care. We know that the number of cases in which care has contributed to death at UHL is very low, and we use the learning from such incidents to improve our services."