In a landmark case, the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust is the first NHS Trust in the history of the NHS to be prosecuted by the Care Quality Commission more than once, over the failure to provide safe care and treatment to three babies in 2021. The Trust has this week pleaded guilty to six counts in relation to the deaths of Adele O’Sullivan, Kahlani Rawson and Quinn Parker, who all died shortly after being born, as well as in respect of the treatment of their mothers.

These tragic deaths reinforce the systemic issues with the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which is already subject to the largest maternity enquiry in the history of the NHS, being led by Donna Ockenden. It further demonstrates that the Trust has not learnt from its past mistakes and innocent children and their families are continuing to pay the ultimate price for these failings.

The Nottingham Magistrates Court echoed this sentiment, criticising the Trust in which “serious and systemic failures” exposed all three mothers and their babies to significant risk of avoidable harm.

No parent ever anticipates, when attending a maternity unit, that instead of taking home their baby, they will be leaving with the grief of a bereavement but this is sadly what has been faced by the parents of Adele, Khalani and Quinn. This is coupled with the knowledge that they have been badly let down and that their children would have survived, had they received the care that they deserved.

In all three cases, the mothers were reporting concerning symptoms, such as bleeding, pain and reduced movements of the babies and there was a failure by the Trust to recognise the need for urgent action, namely an emergency caesarean section. This delay resulted in the babies being deprived of oxygen and suffering catastrophic brain injuries which they unfortunately could not survive.

Although the Trust has issued an apology for their failings, the mother of Quinn, Emmie Studencki, sums up why these words do not go far enough:

“We had an expectation of dignity and respect. We expected to be treated as humans… We as a family have been left behind, stranded in our grief. We are still chasing the full truth and accountability.”

Our Medical Negligence Team have many years of experience in pursuing cases concerning the still birth and neonatal deaths; we recognise that such claims are of the utmost importance to bereaved families and are dedicated to going above and beyond to support these families and in striving to get the justice that they and their babies deserve.

If you or a loved one have suffered the loss of a baby and believe that this was avoidable, please contact our Medical Neglignece Team on 01482 323697 to discuss how we can help.