Shropshire maternity probe: Carrick woman welcomes report

Carley McKee’s daughter Keeley passed away 31 hours after being born at Shrewsbury Hospital on March 20 2010.

Along with 22 other cases, Keeley’s death was included in an initial list of incidents to be investigated in 2018 by senior midwife, Donna Ockenden, but after other families came forward, the probe expanded to cover over 1,800 cases.

Speaking to the Carrick Times, Carley, who lived in Carrickfergus until 2002, said: “I had no issues throughout my pregnancy, with my only real concern being which hospital I was going to give birth in.

“Keeley was born at 10.45am on March 20 2010 and we were sent home that afternoon. She had kept turning blue, but we had been reassured by medical staff that she was fine and that it was normal for newborn babies to change colour. They said she was congested and just needed to cough up mucus.

“She started to make grumbling noises and her condition worsened. A midwife called out to our home for a check up the next day and after my husband Stephen and I raised our concerns, the midwife again said that Keeley was alright and just needed to bring up the mucus.

“That afternoon her condition had continued to get worse and we started to drive to hospital. On the way, she deteriorated and we called for an ambulance. While an air ambulance transported our baby daughter to the Royal Shropshire Hospital, me and Stephen were directed to Telford Hospital by mistake. She passed away at 5.46pm with pneumonia.”

In March 2011, Carley suffered further anguish when Stephen, a Banbridge man who served in the Royal Irish Regiment, died during a military operation in Afghanistan.

Now living in Market Drayton, England, Carley continued: “March is a terrible month for me. I dread it. A year after Keeley’s passing, Stephen died in Afghanistan. Because he is no longer here, I have had to fight for the both of us to get answers about the way Keeley was treated.

“The Ockenden report looked at cases dating back to 2000 and investigated incidents including stillbirths, neonatal deaths and babies who were born with brain injuries.

“I was one of the original 23 on the letter to the then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2016, but more and more people kept coming forward. Mistakes should not have been made and hopefully individuals will pay. We were let down and there have been no apologies.”

The report, published on March 30, found a string of “repeated failures” spanning 20 years - including hundreds of cases where there was avoidable harm. It has raised 15 areas for “immediate and essential action” to improve safety and care in maternity services across England.

Speaking in the House of Commons following the report’s publication, current Health Secretary Sajid Javid MP said: “This report paints a tragic and harrowing picture of repeated failures in care over two decades which led to unimaginable trauma for so many people.

“The report shows a systemic failure to listen to families affected, many of whom who had been doggedly persistent in raising issues over several years.

“In the words of Donna Ockenden, the Trust ‘failed to investigate, failed to learn and failed to improve’.

“To all the families that have suffered so greatly: I am sorry. The report clearly shows that you were failed by a service that was there to help you and your loved ones to bring life into this world. We will make the changes that the report says are needed, at both a local and national level.

“I’d like to reassure honourable members that a number of people who were working at the Trust at the time of the incidents have been suspended or struck off from the professional register and members of senior management have also been removed from their posts. There is also an active police investigation – Operation Lincoln – which is looking at around 600 cases.

“We will act swiftly so that no families have to go through the same pain in the future.”

Commenting on the findings of the review, Carley added: “I very much welcome the report. The changes that have been put in place are going to make maternity units across England a far safer place for women and babies. As long as all these changes are reviewed regularly, then there will be no room for neglect.

“I hope the secretary stands by his words and punishes individuals who allowed this to happen.

“Thanks also to everyone back home in Carrickfergus who has continued to support me over the last 12 years.”

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