Britain – Leeds: 56 infant deaths in hospitals – “They could be avoided”
The revelations continue and the testimonies of England’s health system rock. Families accuse Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTH) NHS Trust of operating with a “bureaucratic” mentality, where formal procedures are followed without being given substantial attention to patient needs. At the same time, they describe a lack of humanity and care by staff and alert Britain’s health system.
The BBC revealed that at least 56 infant deaths and two mothers in the last five years in hospital for child care Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTH) NHS Trust could have been avoided. Although England’s health regulator evaluates LTH’s two obstetric units as “good”, complainants have described the units as unsafe. Leeds presents the highest neonatal mortality rate in the United Kingdom, a statistic causing concern.
Colour mothers are almost three times more likely to die than white (35.1 per 100,000 births), with Asian women having nearly twice as many chances (20.16 per 100,000 births), according to the latest data of MBRACE-UK.
– The MBRRACE- UK (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Conflictal Enquiries across the UK) is a national program in the United Kingdom that focuses on reducing mother and newborn deaths through systematic checks and confidential investigations. Last year, 15.7% of births in LTH were recorded as Asians and 11.8% were colored. Lisa Elliott, a former worker in the two LTH maternity units, argued that care was “tragic” and that staff did not listen to patient concerns, which, according to her, resulted in deaths that could have been avoided. Families ask for independent research to identify problems and take improvement measures.
Professor Phil Wood, CEO of Leeds Teaching Hospitals, told the BBC that the foundation wishes to apologise to women and families who shared their negative experiences. He stressed his specialty as a center caring for the “sickest babies”, adding that comparing MBBRACE-UK infant mortality data from LTH to other hospital units, “even in the same specialized category, is full of difficulties and misleading”. Chris Dzikiti, interim Chief Inspector of CQC for healthcare services, said the LTH obstetric services are subject to close surveillance and continue to be subject to it. He added that the maternity services of the two hospitals were examined last month “in response to the concerns expressed by families and the risks identified through our ongoing monitoring.” The results of this inspection will be published soon.