According to a secret "internal-only" report that the Manchester Evening News just uncovered, a local maternity hospital left a premature baby "in a sluice room to die alone."
In another separate case at a second local maternity hospital, staff misdiagnosed a mother who died from a "catastrophic haemorrhage" the report also revealed.
In fact,
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust's review of its Royal Oldham and North Manchester General hospitals identified not just these two, but several "unacceptable situations."
This is what the shocking report uncovered:
- Mums were put at ‘unacceptable risk’
- Long-term failures led to ‘high levels of harm for babies in particular’
- Staff relationship breakdowns exposed vulnerable women and their families to unacceptable situations
- 'Real' concerns over the care of women in labour
- Deaths and appalling permanent harm as a direct result of bad clinical decisions, chronic short-staffing and poor attitude
- Repeated warnings over years had not led to substantial improvements
- Sky-high compensation pay-outs for death and injury
And while the trust said it had apologised to the families involved for "any failings," the report has shocked many,
MP Graham Stringer, whose constituency covers North Manchester General, explained to
BBC News report left him close to tears.
"I am barely able to read the report without crying - with the baby being left to die alone. It is the most shocking report."
The review, which was carried out in June, followed critical reports by the Care Quality Commission which saw both hospitals rated as inadequate back in February.
The shocking document described how a premature baby had arrived "just before the legal age of viability" - at 22 weeks and six days - but staff did not find "a quiet place" for the child's mother "to nurse her as she died and instead placed her in a Moses basket and left her in the sluice room to die alone".
The report also condemned staff attitudes which led to "unacceptable situations," including another mother's "increasing deterioration" being wrongly attributed to mental health issues - a misdiagnosis which saw her eventually die "from catastrophic haemorrhage".
The Manchester Evening News was apparently made aware of the review by a whistleblower back in July but had to battle with the trust or three months to publish the findings.
