Full Inquiry Demanded Over Baby's Death

Maternity services are in focus this week as a review into maternity services in hospitals within the Northern Trust area has exposed a number of major deficiencies.

However, the mother of a newborn baby boy who died in hospital called instead for a full independent inquiry into the failings instead - specifically into how her son came to die.

The investigation - prompted by the deaths of two mothers and two babies in unrelated incidents - has highlighted several problems, including managerial, staff training and funding issues.

Among the key findings, the team of independent experts from across the UK referred to "an absence of any clear, coherent and agreed strategy for maternity services", adding "this has been the case for several years".

The report also stated "the 'safety culture' is underdeveloped at Antrim and is "at least temporarily limited by staff availability at Causeway".

But, the report stressed that maternity services at both hospitals were "safe" and "would be in the top performing quartile in the UK when viewed against almost all of the recognised major performance indicators."

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust released the findings of the review, which was commissioned as a result of four deaths - yesterday.

However, Olivia Bell isn't happy with the conclusions.

Her son Paul died at Antrim Area Hospital on November 9, 2005, just four days after he was born.

She said that an Inquest into his death was halted for a second time in March this year pending a police investigation into a midwife who allegedly failed to correctly read a foetal heart monitor.

Ms Bell (30) has said that nothing had been learned from their baby's death: "I was very upset at the report," she said. "We feel that it lacks the human touch.

"There was no inquiry after our son died. It's as if our Paul's death has been forgotten.

"The report doesn’t really answer any specific questions and we're very disappointed. It doesn't go far enough. That’s why we want to call for an independent public enquiry into his death," she said.

Recognising that the report unearthed a number of failings in maternity services provided by both Antrim Area and Causeway hospitals, a Northern Health and Social Care Trust spokesman added that the Trust has accepted all the recommendations in full and said that an action plan is being implemented.

(BMcC/NS)