Royal Stoke University Hospital: Spike in baby deaths blamed on Covid

The trust was issued with a section 29A warning notice by The Care Quality Commission (CQC) in March

A spike in baby deaths at a hospital trust has been blamed on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There were 31 neonatal deaths at the Royal Stoke University Hospital in 2021, which fell to 19 the following year.

Dr Matthew Lewis, medical director at University Hospitals North Midlands Trust (UHNM), said the pandemic had affected staffing levels and births.

He said a review was carried out and extra nurses had been hired.

Dr Lewis said as well as increased staff absences, the pandemic had also affected the number and types of births staff were facing.

He said more patients' babies were "delivered at an earlier stage", putting increased pressure on services.

"Some of those deaths were in extremely premature babies, the sort of patients that we wouldn't have looked after in the past but national guidance changed, and because of that we started to look after these babies and naturally a higher proportion of those died," he said.

Iva-Jaylon was one of 31 babies who died at the hospital in 2021, after neglect was found to have contributed to his death

"We reviewed the information, we found no thematic causes for that increased number of deaths.

"But we still learnt from it, we acted to increase the numbers of nurses that were available, we're funded to national standards now for nursing levels."

The Care Quality Commission watchdog separately inspected maternity services, which are separate to neonatal services, at UHNM in March.

It concluded the department "requires significant improvement" to ensure patients received safe care.

It also found improvements were required at the midwifery assessment unit, to ensure users were triaged within the recommended guidance times.

The health watchdog's report comes after neglect was found to have contributed to the death of Iva-Jaylon Champion Weekes, who died at the hospital after being born premature in 2021.

Jodie Stubbs said the loss of her son was "heart-breaking"

His mother Jodie Stubbs described her loss as "heartbreaking".

"He would be here today if they had not made those mistakes," she said.

"He'd be here playing with his brothers and sisters and with me."

Information from the trust's board papers in May heard the West Midlands was an "outlier for neonatal mortality", according to the latest benchmarked data from 2020.

A spokesperson for the hospital trust said it had taken "immediate action" to address concerns at the maternity unit.

"We are continuing to work hard to not only implement further improvements but to ensure they become embedded," they added.

"Our commitment remains to deliver the highest standards possible for the people using our services."