NHS neonatal death investigations poor, review finds

A review by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has found that there are too many poor quality investigations into babies who die or are severely brain damaged during labour.

The review involved examining 204 investigations and found 27 per cent to be of poor quality.

The review looked at the number of cases where parents had been involved in the investigation, and discovered almost 75 per cent of 599 examined had not involved the parents in any meaningful way.

The inquiry, Each Baby Counts, calculated that out of 800,000 births after at least 37 weeks of pregnancy, in the UK in 2015, there were: 655 babies classified as having severe brain injuries; 147 neonatal deaths (within seven days of birth); and 119 stillbirths.

Professor Alan Cameron, vice-president of the RCOG and a consultant obstetrician in Glasgow, said: "When the outcome for parents is the devastating loss of a baby or a baby born with a severe brain injury, there can be little justification for the poor quality of reviews found.

"The emotional cost of these events is immeasurable, and each case of disability costs the NHS around £7 million in compensation to pay for the complex, lifelong support these children need."

Judith Abela, acting chief executive at Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, commented: “Parents' perspective of what happened is critical to understanding how care can be improved, and they must be given the opportunity to be involved, with open, respectful and sensitive support provided throughout.”