Shropshire midwives' misconduct charges proved

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust's maternity services are being reviewed

Misconduct charges against two midwives over the care of a mother and her baby, who died, have been found proved.

Three Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust (SaTH) workers appeared before the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after the death in 2015.

The panel found Laura Jones and Hayley Lacey did not communicate enough to ensure the mother's continuous care.

Kerry Davies, admits she should have checked the baby boy's heart rate before birth but denies misconduct.

The trio were not accused of causing the baby's death, and had admitted some of the charges put forward by the NMC.

A second hearing, which began on Monday, was to decide on those charges which had been denied.

The baby died four days after being born at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital

The child, referred to as Baby K, died four days after being born at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital on 19 August 2015, a previous hearing in London was told.

It heard his grandmother was worried about the care given by midwives and used her nursing experience to make notes afterwards.

Comparing those with notes made by Ms Jones and Ms Lacey, the NMC accused the pair of falsifying records of the baby's heart rate and his mother, Patient A's, pulse.

They had denied the charges and the panel found it could not be satisfied either midwife had deliberately set out to mislead anyone.

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At the previous hearing, which began on 30 October, the NMC had heard there was a period where it was unclear who was looking after the mother.

But, the panel found it had been Ms Jones' responsibility to monitor the mother's heart rate at that time.

Ms Davies looked after the patient later in the evening.

At the previous hearing, the three had been found to have no case to answer on some allegations.

The panel will reconvene in April to decide if their fitness to practise was impaired and what action should be taken.

The case is a result of a direct referral to the NMC and comes amid a review of maternity care at SaTH, ordered by the health secretary in 2017 following a series of baby deaths.

It has since expanded after more than 200 families came forward with questions or concerns over care.

Final charges put to the midwives:

Ms Lacey

• Failure to communicate with another midwife to ensure continuous care was provided to Patient A - Denied and found proved by the panel

• Recording the foetal heart rate and maternal pulse at four instances - Admitted and found proved

• Dishonestly making those records - Denied and cannot be proved by the panel

• Failing to complete written handover notes in respect of Patient A - Admitted and found proved

Ms Jones

• Did not refer or transfer Patient A to a Consultant Led Unit after two readings showed high blood pressure - Admitted and found proved

• Failing to record the foetal heart rate at two times - Denied and found proved by the panel

• Failing to ensure continuous care was provided to Patient A - Denied and found proved by the panel

• Failing to complete written handover notes in respect of Patient A - Admitted and found proved

• Arranging the transfer of Patient A to the Consultant Led Unit in a wheelchair and calling a porter to assist with moving - No case to answer

• Recording the foetal heart rate at nine separate times - Six admitted and found proved, three no case to answer

• Recording the mother's pulse at two times - One admitted and found proved, one no case to answer

• Dishonestly making those records - Denied and cannot be proved by the panel

Ms Davies

• Arranging the transfer of Patient A to the Consultant Led Unit in a wheelchair and calling a porter to assist with moving - Admitted but no case to answer

• Failing to perform a test on the baby's heart rate - Admitted and found proved

• These actions led to a loss of chance of survival of Baby K - No case to answer