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09
May 2017
Maternity units in England record more than 1,400 mistakes each week
A BBC investigation has found that on average, over 1,400 mistakes were recorded in NHS maternity units in England each week between 2013 and 2016.
The figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request from 81 of the 132 NHS trusts in England, showed that over 305,000 incidents were recorded in the four year period.
The Department of Health have said that plans are in place to reduce the rates of neonatal deaths, stillbirths, maternal deaths and brain injuries in babies by 50 per cent by 2030. Alongside these plans, the government has also launched a new £8m staff training scheme focussing on maternity safety.
In October 2016, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced that the government had invested nearly £40m since 2010 to make improvements to maternity services.
He said “Dedicated and hardworking NHS staff do an incredible job – 24 hours a day, every day of the year – of bringing new babies into the world and achieving great outcomes for women, newborns and their families.”
Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said “The simple truth is that we do not have enough midwives working in them right now, we are also seeing more leaving the profession because of stress and a slight reduction in the number of student midwives training.
She added “We need to reduce the number of mistakes to an absolute minimum. We can’t deliver the safest possible care if we don’t have enough midwives and doctors working here.”
Chadwick Lawrence’s team of medical negligence lawyers have years of experience in high value and complex medical negligence compensation claims and have an excellent record. The team is led by Tony May, a specialist cerebral palsy and birth injury solicitor, who has over 20 years experience in handling cases in which babies have been brain damaged or sustained other injuries as a result of medical negligence. He and his team continue to represent many cerebral palsy children and young adults in medical negligence claims. Tony also acts as the Court of Protection Deputy for many of the cerebral palsy and brain damaged clients that he has represented, so we can continue to support you after your case is settled. Tony can be contacted by email on tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk. Alternatively, please call and speak to any of Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist medical negligence Legal Aid and no win-no fee solicitors for free legal advice on the freephone number below.
Freephone: 0800 028 2969
For further information, please see our cerebral palsy and birth injury website:
http://www.cerebralpalsyclaimssolicitors.co.uk
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