Baby Deaths Trust Claimed £2m 'good Care' Payments

An NHS spot criticised complete nan avoidable decease of a newborn babe was paid £2m for providing bully maternity care, nan BBC tin reveal.

A elder coroner ruled connected Friday that University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay (UHMB) NHS spot contributed to Ida Lock's decease and had grounded to study lessons from erstwhile maternity failures.

Despite this, nan spot claimed it had met each 10 standards nether an NHS strategy aimed astatine promoting safe treatment.

Ida's mother Sarah Robinson said it was "another footwear successful nan teeth" while her begetter Ryan Lock labelled it "disgusting". The trust, which has antecedently apologised for its failings successful Ida's care, declined to remark astir nan NHS costs scheme.

Senior coroner for Lancashire James Adeley concluded that Ida had died owed to nan gross nonaccomplishment of 3 midwives to supply basal aesculapian care.

Ida, who was calved astatine nan Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) connected 9 November 2019, died a week later aft suffering a superior encephalon wounded owed to a deficiency of oxygen.

Dr Adeley ruled her decease had been caused by nan midwives' nonaccomplishment to present nan babe "urgently erstwhile it was evident she was successful distress" and contributed to by nan lead midwife's "wholly incompetent nonaccomplishment to supply basal neonatal resuscitation".

He said 8 opportunities had been missed "to change Ida's objective course".

Her five-week inquest astatine Preston County Hall heard that galore of nan issues identified successful a 2015 independent reappraisal of UHMB's maternity services were still evident successful November 2019.

The RLI is tally by nan UHMB trust.

Under nan Maternity Incentive Scheme tally by NHS Resolution, nan wellness service's security arm, maternity departments successful England are encouraged to supply bully attraction by gathering 10 information standards, including decently investigating deaths and listening to parents' concerns.

Trusts which certify they person met these standards person a rebate connected their security premiums, successful summation to a stock of money paid by NHS trusts which do not.

In nan 5 years that nan strategy has been running, UHMB said it had met nan 10 standards 4 times.

In 2018, nan first twelvemonth of nan programme, nan trust's self-certification led to it being paid £1,288,241.

In 2019, nan twelvemonth of Ida's death, it received £734,112 aft again claiming to person deed each of nan criteria.

The UHMB spot besides claimed a cleanable 10-out-of-10 grounds successful 2020 but their submission was reviewed by NHS Resolution pursuing a captious inspection of maternity services by nan Care Quality Commission.

The regulator's study rated maternity services arsenic "inadequate", pinch UHMB's people downgraded to 3 retired of 10.

Consequently, UHMB was not fixed immoderate money that twelvemonth by NHS Resolution, and nan spot was made to repay astir of nan magnitude it had received successful 2019.

When told astir nan payments strategy and really nan spot had benefitted from it, Mr Lock said it was "disgusting".

He said: "It's coating a mendacious image truthful they tin person money."

A erstwhile maternity consequence head astatine nan trust, Rox-Anne Hetherington, said Morecambe Bay's actions were successful keeping pinch her experience.

"I can, hand-on-heart, opportunity that it wasn't a lawsuit of 'What person we done to [make things better]?'

"It was a lawsuit of 'What are we going to opportunity we've done?'"

Dr Bill Kirkup, whose 2015 enquiry exposed wide failings successful maternity care, including nan preventable deaths of 11 babies and a mother astatine nan trust's Furness General Hospital successful Cumbria, besides said he wasn't surprised.

"Some trusts put a batch of effort into really they tin coming nan champion image of themselves, and overmuch little effort into whether they're really making improvements underneath," he said.

UHMB's claims are successful statement pinch different struggling trusts which person besides made akin erroneous submissions nether nan Maternity Incentive Scheme.

The Shrewsbury and Telford NHS spot was forced to repay almost £1m aft it likewise claimed to person met each of nan information standards.

A reappraisal of its maternity care, published successful 2022, found much than 200 babies and mothers could person survived pinch due care.

The East Kent University Hospitals trust, wherever an enquiry found astatine slightest 45 babies could person survived, was besides forced to repay £2m aft falsely claiming it had met nan information criteria.

In a statement, NHS Resolution said "University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS spot initially self-reported afloat compliance pinch nan Maternity Incentive Scheme successful years 1, 2, 3 and 5.

"However consequent NHS Resolution reviews of nan Trust's grounds for years 2 and 3 pursuing nan publication of their CQC study demonstrated that they were not afloat compliant for those years.

"The Trust was required to repay immoderate costs for those years. The antecedently granted rebate was returned to NHS Resolution and was redistributed to each compliant Trusts."

The UHMB, which has antecedently apologised for its failings successful Ida Lock's death, declined to remark astir its information successful nan Maternity Incentive Scheme.