NHS 'failings' in baby death case

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Hospital bosses have accepted there were "some failings" in the case of a newborn baby who died because of a shortage of beds in the delivery suite.

Caitlin Simpson died of an infection which could have been prevented if she was induced sooner, an inquest heard.

Her mother Janine Howarth had to wait nearly three days at Leeds General Infirmary from the time her waters broke for the labour to be induced.

Hospital chiefs said work had been done to prevent further similar incidents.

The inquest in Leeds heard that Caitlin was 20 minutes old when she died on 24 May of congenital pneumonia caused by an infection in the uterus.

Labour should have been induced 24 hours after Ms Howarth's waters broke on 21 May but the procedure was not carried out for 72 hours, putting her at greater risk of infection.

'Tragic death'

The inquest heard staff failed to send Ms Howarth on to St James's Hospital, also in Leeds, despite this being trust policy when beds are unavailable.

A spokesman for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We accept that there were some failings in this case.

"A full investigation was carried out following Caitlin's tragic death and a number of recommendations were made to prevent a similar incident happening in future.

"We have taken these recommendations extremely seriously. Most have already been implemented and firm action plans are in place for the others."

The new measures implemented include greater integration of the two Leeds hospitals, the appointment of 10 additional midwives and detailed risk assessments carried out on all women.

The trust also said that all women would now have a named midwife and new induction of labour guidelines have been drawn up.