Kettering General Hospital chief apologises over children's care

Archie became extremely ill on Skylark ward at Kettering General Hospital in November

A chief executive whose hospital has been accused of failing children has admitted it has not always "got it right" and apologised at a meeting.

The care regulator has warned Kettering General Hospital (KGH) over its children's and young people's services and rated them inadequate.

Dozens of parents with children who died or became seriously ill have contacted the BBC with concerns.

Deborah Needham told a board meeting she was "here to listen" to worries.

In April it was revealed inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) raised concerns over sepsis treatment, staff numbers, dirt levels and not having an "open culture" where concerns could be raised without fear, following an inspection in December.

The CQC had inspected the Northamptonshire hospital's paediatric assessment unit, Skylark ward, and the neonatal unit after hearing concerns of safety.

Parents who have raised concerns with the BBC include Michaela Stevens, who said she contacted the CQC about her son Archie's care on Skylark in November.

She believed her then 17-month-old son, who lost 500g (1.1lbs) on Skylark, was "lucky to be alive".

Michaela Stevens said she felt disempowered as a parent

In February, hospital board papers stated there was a "significant risk that the trust has the potential to lose its paediatric services, if it fails to make the improvements required and give the assurances needed to keep children safe".

On Thursday, in a public board meeting, chief executive Ms Needham said: "It's quite clear that we don't always get it right in healthcare and we also haven't, on occasions, got it right in our children's services.

"So as I'd written in my last board report, I also now want to say sorry if we have let any patients or children down in our hospital. I'm truly sorry if that has been the case.

"My door is open and I'm absolutely willing to meet with anybody who would want to talk with me about their experience. I'm here to listen."

Skylark ward is a 26-bed unit where children are treated

After the December inspection was made public, the town's Conservative MP Philip Hollobone said the hospital "needs to get its act together as quickly as possible".

Earlier this week, the BBC revealed CQC inspectors returned to Kettering to check on improvements following warning notices made.

Ms Needham said inspectors' feedback "was positive, which I'm really pleased about".

"What they did say was that our colleagues were happier. Our colleagues in our children's areas were happy to be at work and that's not something they saw in December, which was really pleasing to hear.

"They also said that the families that they spoke to, and they spoke to a lot of families during that day, felt listened to by the staff. And again that's really good to hear… because we know that hasn't always been the case in the past."