Baby deaths trust claimed £2m 'good care' payments

An NHS trust criticised over the avoidable death of a newborn baby was paid £2m for providing good maternity care, the BBC can reveal.

A senior coroner ruled on Friday that University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay (UHMB) NHS trust contributed to Ida Lock's death and had failed to learn lessons from previous maternity failures.

Despite this, the trust claimed it had met all 10 standards under an NHS scheme aimed at promoting safe treatment.

Ida's mother Sarah Robinson said it was "another kick in the teeth" while her father Ryan Lock labelled it "disgusting". The trust, which has previously apologised for its failings in Ida's care, declined to comment about the NHS payment scheme.

Senior coroner for Lancashire James Adeley concluded that Ida had died due to the gross failure of three midwives to provide basic medical care.

Ida, who was born at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) on 9 November 2019, died a week later after suffering a serious brain injury due to a lack of oxygen.

Dr Adeley ruled her death had been caused by the midwives' failure to deliver the infant "urgently when it was apparent she was in distress" and contributed to by the lead midwife's "wholly incompetent failure to provide basic neonatal resuscitation".

He said eight opportunities had been missed "to alter Ida's clinical course".

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Source: BBC News, 26 March 2025