Midwife suspended over death of nine-day-old boy
A midwife who failed to properly care for a newborn baby before his death at a scandal hit maternity unit was suspended for just nine months today (FRI).
Holly Parkinson caused nine-day-old Joshua Titcombe to ‘lose a significant chance of survival’ when he suffered a lung haemorrhage at Furness General Hospital (FGH) in Cumbria in 2008.
Staff at the hospital have been blamed for a series of deaths of babies and mothers dating from 2004 and the unit has been the subject of a huge police investigation.
The attitude of the midwives was so cavalier they became known as ‘The Musketeers.’
Parkinson and colleague Lindsey Biggs both failed to carry out proper observations and did not ‘escalate’ the situation when Joshua’s temperature plummeted.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council found them both guilty of misconduct at an earlier hearing but concluded that their actions did not directly contribute to Joshua’s death.
Parkinson is now involved in conducting reviews of incidents at the hospital as a quality and safety midwife within the Maternity Risk and Management Team.
Her line manager, Sharon Perkins, described her as ‘very, very thorough’ and ‘compassionate’ during submissions made to the NMC.
But panel chair Stuart Gray told Parkinson that she was ‘still in a state of denial’ as he announced the decision to issue a suspension for nine months rather than strike her off the register.
He said: ‘You have not yet accepted or taken responsibility for your actions or omissions.
‘There is little evidence that you have directly remediated your clinical practice.’
But he added: ‘You are performing well in your current role as a quality and safety midwife.’
Joshua developed pneumococcal septicaemia after a treatable infection that had been passed to him from his mum Hoa and was missed by midwives following the birth.
The baby and his mother were left in a freezing room but the observation charts for Joshua and his care plan have mysteriously vanished.
A corner had recorded the cause of death as left lung haemorrhage due to a necrotic lung and pneumococcal septicaemia.
Parkinson admitted she failed to document the paediatrician’s advice that Baby A required 3 hourly observations.
She also failed to escalate Baby A’s low temperature to a paediatrician between 4pm and 9pm on 27 October 2008.
The NMC panel found Parkinson did not treat Joshua or his mother as the focus of her practice and that her conduct placed Joshua ‘at unwarranted risk of harm.’
They concluded that both Parkinson and Biggs caused Joshua to lose a significant chance of survival but rejected the claim that the midwives’ actions directly contributed to Joshua’s death.
Parkinson’s current fitness to practice was found impaired by reason of her misconduct.
Biggs must wait until a further hearing in October to hear her fate.
The latest hearing comes in the wake of the damning Kirkup Report, which identified a series of failings at Barrow’s Furness General Hospital maternity unit.
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