Trust fined £1.7m for maternity care failures

An acute trust has been fined £1.7m — one of the largest penalties to date — after multiple failings in connection with the deaths of three babies under its care.

Nottingham University Hospital Trust admitted failings in the care of the babies and their mothers on Monday, in the prosecution brought by the Care Quality Commission.

Adele O’Sullivan, Kahlani Rawson and Quinn Parker all died shortly after being born in 2021 within the same short period of time.

It is the largest fine for a trust from a CQC prosecution over maternity failings, although similar penalties have been issued for other care failures.

According to BBC reporting, Nottingham Magistrates’ Court heard the fine was reduced from an initial £5.5m, and district judge Grace Leong accepted the defence’s request that the fine be payable in two halves, one half by 31 March 2026 and the second half by 31 March 2027.

NUH has already been fined £800,000 after admitting failings in the care of Wynter Andrews, who died in 2019, which was only the second time the regulator has brought a case against an NHS maternity service, and the highest fine ever given for failings of this nature.

The trust is also at the centre of the NHS’s largest ever maternity investigation, which is ongoing and expected to cover around 2,500 cases.

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Source: HSJ, 12 February 2025