East Kent hospital baby deaths: Dr Bill Kirkup review to be published
An independent review launched after up to 15 babies died at a hospital trust will be published later.
The report into maternity services at East Kent Hospitals, which is expected to be "harrowing", examined up to 200 cases involving mothers and babies.
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The medical experts reviewed an 11-year period from 2009 at two hospitals in Margate and Ashford.
The trust, which previously said it was "determined to learn any lessons", has been heavily criticised by parents.
A series of failings emerged during the inquest of Harry Richford, who died seven days after being born in 2017.
The hearing in January 2020 found Harry's death at The Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM) in Margate was "wholly avoidable".
The trust was fined £733,000 for failing to provide safe care and treatment for him and his mother Sarah Richford.
The Richfords have long campaigned for answers after saying their concerns were repeatedly brushed aside by hospital managers.
The trust has apologised for Harry's death, which it initially said was "expected". However it was not the first incident of its kind.
Harry Halligan died in 2012 following mistakes during his delivery at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
Afterwards, the trust was put into special measures by the Care Quality Commission, which rated its maternity services as "inadequate".
Directives for improvement were made, but the trust failed to implement almost all the recommendations.
Harry Richford's family claim their baby might not have died if the trust had learned from the death of Harry Halligan, and have spent years demanding systemic change at East Kent's maternity units.
Other parents said they felt they were blamed by the trust after they lost their babies.
The review was chaired by Dr Bill Kirkup CBE, who examined the circumstances of maternity deaths at both the QEQM and the William Harvey.
In an email to staff last month, trust chief executive Tracey Fletcher said the report would make "harrowing" reading and have a "profound" impact on families and colleagues.
Dr Kirkup, who met with families affected during the probe, has led several reviews, including chairing the investigation of Morecambe Bay maternity services.
Speaking ahead of the report's publication, Dr Kirkup told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "When I reported on Morecambe Bay maternity services in 2015, I did not imagine for one moment that I would be back in seven years' time talking about a rather similar set of circumstances and that there would have been another two large, high-profile maternity failures as well on top of that.
"This cannot go on. We have to address this in a different way.
"We can't simply respond to each one as if it's a one-off, as if this is the last time this will happen. We have to do things differently."
Nadine Dorries, the former minister for patient safety, announced in February 2020 that the review at East Kent would be held.
The report was originally intended to be published last month, but was delayed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
BBC
