Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has been fined more than £800,000 after admitting to failing to care for mother Sarah Andrews and her baby, who died 23 minutes after birth. Wynter Sophia Andrews died following a Caesarean section at Queen’s Medical Center in Nottingham. Sentencing District Judge Grace Leong said there was a “catalogue of failings and errors” by the trust that exposed the mother and baby to “significant risk of harm” that could have been avoided.
This is the first time the trust has ever faced criminal charges after pleading guilty to two charges involving Wynter and Ms. the first time the trust has ever faced criminal charges.
Judge Leong said there were “so many” procedures and practices surrounding the mother and daughter where “guidelines were not followed or adhered to or implemented”.
The entire £1.2 million find was reduced to £800,000 due to the early IOUs.
Out of court on Wednesday, Ms Andrews said in a statement that her daughter and family had “failed in the most brutal way” and urged other mothers who may have gone through similar experiences to take part in the Ockenden Review, a comprehensive investigation into multiple failures in maternity care within the NUH trust.
The trust’s chief executive Anthony May repeated his apology.
In a statement, he said: “We are truly sorry for the pain and distress we have caused Mr and Mrs Andrews due to deficiencies in the maternity care we have provided.
“We disappointed them in what should have been a joyful time in their lives.”
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The Trust must also pay prosecution costs of £13,668.65 and a victim’s surcharge of £181, with Bernard Thorogood, moderating on her behalf, asking for two years to pay the sum.
At an earlier inquest, the coroner called Wynter’s death a “plain and clear case of neglect”.
Wynter was delivered “in poor condition” at 2:05 p.m. on September 15, 2019, with the umbilical cord “wrapped tightly around her leg and neck”, and efforts to resuscitate her were abandoned 23 minutes later.