THE father of a newborn baby who died because of failings at the trust which runs Furness General Hospital has welcomed the creation of a new investigation unit into maternity incidents.
All incidents in England are now investigated by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (the HSIB) which takes over the role from hospital trusts.
The HSIB is responsible for cases of intrapartum stillbirth, early neonatal deaths and severe brain injury diagnosed in the first seven days of life.
The creation of the HSIB has been welcomed by James Titcombe, of Dalton.
His newborn baby Joshua died at FGH nine days after his birth in November 2008.
It took the family 17 months to finally receive an apology from the trust.
One of the most damning criticisms of those involved in Joshua’s care came from independent government inspector Dr Bill Kirkup in 2015.
Mr Kirkup described the “lethal mix” of “serious and shocking” failings at the maternity unit had led to the deaths of 11 babies and one mother.
Mr Titcombe continues to campaign for patient safety.
“This is such good news,” he said, welcoming the announcement from the HSIB.
“It means any family experiencing a tragedy like Joshua’s death won’t have to face the kind of defensiveness and dishonesty we did.
“It means the focus will instead be on learning, truth and healing.”
The first team of six maternity investigators started training in April 2018 and the first trusts started referring cases in May 2018.
As of this week all hospital trusts in England will refer incidents to the HSIB.
The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Furness General Hospital, Westmorland General Hospital and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, handed the role over to the HSIB in December.
A spokesman for the trust said there had been no reportable incidents since December.
The branch has more than 140 investigators, clinical advisors and specialists to investigate, analyse findings and form safety recommendations.
One of the key elements is its family engagement model which has led to more than 97 per cent of families being involved in the investigations.
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