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Too Many Maternity Deaths
A report into 10 maternity deaths at a west London hospital has prompted calls for immediate and urgent safety checks at NHS maternity units.
The Healthcare Commission's report followed deaths at North West London Hospitals Trust's Northwick Park Hospital from April 2002 to April 2005.
The report criticised the level of care from the trust in nine out of 10 cases. It also said there were not enough resources to deal with high-risk cases, too few consultant obstetricians and midwives and not enough dedicated theatre staff. The hospital was also criticised for its reliance on agency or locum staff and the lack of an adequate high dependency unit. The North West London Hospitals NHS Trust said lessons had been learned.
All of the 10 women died during pregnancy or within 42 days after birth - a number of deaths much higher than the national average.
"The national average for maternal deaths as reported by Cemach (Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health) is one death per 8,775 maternities " the Healthcare Commission said. "The maternal death rate for Northwick Park maternity unit (in the period April 2002 to March 2004) was 74.2 deaths per 100,000 maternities."
Marcia Fry, the Health Commission's head of operational development, said: "This was a sad and tragic series of events. We hope this report at least gives some answers to the families involved. At the time of the deaths, the working practices at the trust were unacceptable. However, under special measures the trust has got its maternity services on the road to recovery."
Lawyer Louise Forsyth said the commission's recommendations did not go far enough. Ms. Forsyth represents the husband of one of the women, 27 year old Premalatha Jeevagan, who died in May 2004 after giving birth to her first child. "I am pleased that the provision of maternity care at Northwick Park Hospital has been fully investigated. However it makes for incredibly sad reading and the findings are extremely damning," she said.
The trust's chief executive, Mary Wells, said changes made so far included a £19m investment to improve the maternity unit and the appointment of three new consultants, 20 midwives and a team of 10 recovery nurses.
"Clearly this has been a tragic time for all the families and I hope the report provides them with a better understanding of what happened," she added. "I would like to reassure them, and the local community, that lessons have been learned and that we continue to do all we can to avoid tragedies of this nature happening again."
August 2006 |
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