The chief executive of Nottingham's main hospitals has admitted there is 'still a lot to do' to improve maternity services after the trust was fined £800,000 over serious failings in the care and treatment of mum Sarah Andrews and baby daughter Wynter. Baby Wynter died just 23 minutes after she was born at the Queen's Medical Centre in September 2019.
Anthony May, who has been leading Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) since September, reiterated his apologies to Mrs Andrews and husband Gary after the court ruling on Friday, January 27.
Reading from a statement outside Nottingham Magistrates' Court, Mrs Andrews said they were not the only family harmed by the trust's failings. More than 1,500 families are expected to be covered by the independent Nottingham maternity review, which would make it the largest NHS maternity scandal in the UK, surpassing the 1,486 families examined during the separate maternity review which was also led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden in Shrewsbury.
Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, Mr May said that he accepted the findings of the court, adding: "I would like to reemphasise my apology to Mr and Mrs Andrews for the pain that and suffering that our failings have caused for them, and for the tragic death of their baby, Wynter."
Read more: 'We are not the only family harmed by the Trust's failings', says mum Sarah Andrews
The chief executive said NUH was doing "absolutely everything" to improve its maternity services, but admitted there was still a lot to do. "When I hear the evidence in court I find it upsetting, so I'm sure that local people and particularly mothers find it upsetting as well," he said.
"I would like to reassure them that through our maternity improvement plan we are doing absolutely everything we can to make sure the services are safe and good every day, and we are improving that as quickly as we can. I do think we've done a great deal but I will also be the first to admit there's still a lot to do.
Maternity services across the country are stretched, especially in terms of recruitment. But here, I would reassure people that the amount of effort and attention that's being paid to the services here makes it one of the top priorities of the trust. We understand the need to restore public confidence in what we do here."
Mr May said his appearance at court was in order to show accountability, adding: "It's very important, because today was a milestone for Mr and Mrs Andrews, that someone like me is accountable and attends court and makes sure that locally people know how sorry we are for what happened."
The sentence was decided by District Judge Grace Leong after hearing from the prosecutor on behalf of the Care Quality Commission, which brought legal action against the Trust, and from Bernard Thorogood, a specialist barrister representing the interests of the Trust. She ordered to Trust pay £13,668.65 costs and a victim surcharge of £181.
Tiny new-born Wynter died after the umbilical cord had become wrapped around her neck and from acute chorioamnionitis - an inflammation of the placenta due to an infection. She had also suffered a haemorrhage to the brain and lung.
An inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court in 2020 heard that staff failed to recognise Mrs Andrews was in established and not latent labour, failed to act on high blood pressure readings and carried out four "inaccurate and insufficient handovers" to colleagues as part of a catalogue of errors in the lead up to baby Wynter's death.
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