East Kent hospitals: Baby deaths 'could have been prevented'

At least seven preventable baby deaths may have occurred at one of the largest groups of hospitals in England since 2016, a BBC investigation has found.

Significant concerns have been raised about maternity services at the trust.

East Kent NHS Foundation Trust has apologised, saying it has "not always provided the right standard of care".

The trust has struggled to improve maternity care for years, despite repeatedly being made aware of the problems.

In 2015, the medical director asked experts from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to review maternity care, amid "concerns over the working culture". Their review, seen by the BBC, found poor team working in the unit, a number of consultants operating as they saw fit, a lack of performance management of the consultant body and out of date clinical guidelines.

It highlights consultants who:

• failed to carry out labour ward rounds, review women, make plans of care or attend out of hours when requested
• rarely attended CTG training
• were reported "as doing their own thing rather than follow guidelines".

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Source: BBC News, 23 January 2020