There is widespread shock and outcry this morning, after a ‘secret’ report of maternity facilities in NHS Trust hospitals detailed how a premature baby died, alone, in a medical waste disposal room.
The Manchester Evening News made the revelation, after obtaining a report carried out at Pennine Acute Hospital NHS Trust – which operates North Manchester General and the Royal Oldham hospitals – through a Freedom of Information request.
The report highlighted a series of clinical errors and major staff shortages at the hospitals’ maternity facilities, with the harrowing story of the premature baby causing particular alarm.
According to the report, the baby was born at 22 weeks – too early to resuscitate, as per the medical guidelines.
The baby girl went on to live outside of her mother’s body for a further two hours. However, rather than passing away in her mum’s arms, the baby was placed in a moses basket and left alone in a room reserved for the disposal of medical waste.
The report read: “When the baby was born alive and went on to live for almost another two hours, the staff members involved in the care did not find a quiet place to sit with her to nurse her as she died.”
“Instead, they placed her in a moses basket and left her in the sluice room to die alone,” the report author added.
The report went on to identify a lack of basic ‘compassion’ along with ‘poor decision-making’.
The NHS released a statement last night, assuring the public and healthcare professionals that more staff have been employed in a bid to raise standards at these particular hospitals.
