Hospital chiefs did not refer 'dishonest' midwife to regulator over newborn's death
A mother has questioned why a hospital trust left it to her to refer a midwife to the nursing regulator over failings in the care of her daughter who died.
A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel last week took the decision to strike Claire Roberts off the register over her actions in the tragic case of Pippa Griffiths.
Pippa died just one day after being born at home in Myddle in April, 2016, from a Group B strep infection – the most common cause of meningitis in newborns.
Roberts, and another midwife, Joanna Young, were both found to have failed to recognise the urgency of the need for medical or midwifery attention for Pippa – despite the concerns of her mother Kayleigh.
In the case of Roberts the panel found she had effectively tried to cover up over her actions during a 2am call with Mrs Griffiths.
The NMC panel concluded that Roberts made an inaccurate record of a conversation with Mrs Griffiths, with chairman David Evans saying it had been to "protect yourself from disciplinary action".
Ms Young faced no sanction following the hearings after the panel accepted that she had shown remorse and made genuine efforts to learn from the tragedy.
It has now emerged that despite conducting an investigation into Pippa's death Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which employed both midwives at the time, took no action to make a referral to the NMC – which is tasked with ensuring nursing staff are safe to practice.
Mrs Griffiths, 35, from Myddle, said that her and her husband Colin had asked the trust if they would be referring the case after they informed them of the conclusion of the investigation, but they were told they could do it themselves.
The trust is currently the focus of an inquiry into failings in its maternity services – with the next stage of a major report due at the end of the month.
The first section revealed a host of harrowing experiences of families at the trust.
Mrs Griffiths said: "They came here when they had done the management investigation and had agreed their own sanctions. We asked what those sanctions were and they would not tell us because they were confidential.
"I asked if they had been reported to the NMC and she said no, and said we could do it ourselves."
Mrs Griffiths said that given the severity of the case – as illustrated by findings of serious misconduct for both employees –– she could not understand why the trust had not taken the action itself, in the interests of patient safety.
She said: "It gives me cause for concern over the way they handle any of these cases.
"When it is something this serious they should not have the option not to refer it, especially when it is about dishonesty and falsifying notes."
Asked if she was surprised at the approach from the trust, Mrs Griffiths said: "That is what we have come to expect from the trust. We were not expecting anything different. At every opportunity they have possibly had to fail us they have. That is just what we have become used to with them."
The trust has declined to comment on why it did not refer the case to the NMC.
In a statement following the conclusion of the NMC hearing, Hayley Favell, Director of Nursing at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said: “We offer our sincere condolences to the family over the loss of their daughter and, as a trust, we take full responsibility for the failings in the standard of care given to mothers and babies, for which we apologise unreservedly.
“We remain committed to taking all of the steps necessary to improve and all our work is driven by a determination to ensure that we deliver safe, effective, reliable and high-quality services to the women and families we are caring for.”
