Top legal firm takes up cause of parents and children damaged at ‘failing’ maternity unit

Martin Shipton

One of Britain’s top legal practices has helped set up a support group for parents and children who were traumatised and damaged by medical negligence at a Welsh hospital’s maternity unit.

Leigh Day, established decades ago to represent individuals and groups who had suffered injustice at the hands of corporate and government bodies, will take forward claims against Swansea Bay University Health Board, whose maternity unit at Singleton Hospital was severely criticised in an official report.

In September 2023 Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) concluded that the safety and wellbeing of mothers and babies could not be guaranteed at the unit.

The Welsh Government has refused to hold a public inquiry into concerns about the unit. Instead a review has been commissioned by the health board, which presided over the unit’s failings.

Walked away

Parents led by Rob and Sian Channon, whose five-year-old son Gethin suffered serious brain damage at birth because of medical negligence at the unit, have walked away from the review, saying they have no confidence in it, and have announced that what they call a genuinely independent review will now take place.

A statement on Leigh Day’s website says: “Leigh Day welcomes those with just causes, assuring them access to objective, professional advice, with a commitment to an open, honest relationship. Our promise is to afford ordinary individuals the same quality of legal advice as state bodies, insurers and multinationals. Regardless of where injustice unfolds, Leigh Day stands as an unwavering force, ready to fight relentlessly for justice.

“Doctors and midwives have a duty of care to you and your baby. A birth injury claim can help you secure compensation if you or your child have suffered from an injury before, during or after childbirth as a result of medical negligence.

“No child or parent should suffer from medical negligence during childbirth. The effects can be devastating and life-altering. Sadly, mistakes can happen that may result in birth injuries. Our birth injury solicitors can help support you and find out if you have a claim.”

Support group

A spokesperson for the group set up with the help of Leigh Day said: “Families have come together to provide a support group for those who have been affected by poor standards of care.

“The support group is family led and provides a safe space for families to share their experiences, seek peer support and specialist advice.

Families have felt ignored for some time; the group allows families to be heard and gain support from other families who have experienced the same.”

Following the first support group meeting, one family member said: “It can be incredibly daunting and lonely to be let down in the worst of ways by a faceless hospital. This group was full of lovely, kind, welcoming people who are all sadly walking the same path in life that I am. It made me feel less alone, and made me feel heard for the first time in a long time.”

The spokesperson for the group said: “This is completely independent from Swansea Bay Health Board and the Review Team who declined to have a patient representative on the review panel. The group will however feedback any immediate risks and concerns to the health board while maintaining the privacy of families.

The second support group meeting will be held on 1st April at 5.30pm at the Mercure Hotel, Swansea. To register your attendance please email: swanseamaternitysupptgroup@gmail.com.”

Statement

Following a board meeting of Swansea Bay UHB on March 27, chief executive Abigail Harris has issued a statement saying: “I would like to acknowledge that not every woman and their family receive the quality of care we aspire to and on behalf of the Board, I’d like to apologise to women and their families whose experience of our maternity services was not as good as it should have been.

“We know that of the 3,000+ births we see each year, many of the women we support through childbirth have a positive experience. In February our friends and family survey responses relating to our obstetric services indicated that 91.8% said their experience was good or very good (97 surveys were completed).

“But this is not the case for everyone. We know from our review of concerns and other feedback from women and their families that we have more to do to ensure good communication with women – particularly in relation to the timeliness of clinical assessments and interventions and keeping women informed about progress throughout their care pathway.

“We know that childbirth is not risk free – our commitment is to ensure that our services are as safe as they can be every day, on every shift. It must be acknowledged that we cannot eliminate all risk. We know that things can change very rapidly. As a regional centre with a level three neonatal service women are transferred to us if they require the specialist services we provide. This includes women transferring to us from across the South-West Wales region in both planned and emergency situations. The Neonatal Network will facilitate the transfer of an expectant mum to us from further afield if the baby (or babies) is expected to need neonatal care and there are no cots available in their local centre.

“Every day our clinical teams assess the levels of acuity of the expectant mums in their care and make decisions about clinical priorities in light of changing demand – balancing planned and emergency needs – aiming to ensure that every woman and baby gets the support and care they need. We have a dashboard of operational and service quality information and combine this with the conversations we have with women and their families to enable us to assess and manage clinical safety and people’s experience effectively and with compassion.

“We know that on rare occasions, harm occurs and sadly, in a very small number of cases, the outcome is not what any of us would want.

“We have more to do in relation to supporting women and families when harm occurs, supporting our staff to identify when harm has occurred, supporting women and families through this difficult time, and ensuring the right processes are followed and that any learning is identified and fed back into clinical practice. We are also strengthening how we support our staff as unexpected outcomes also have a profound impact on them too.”