MP calls for improvements after stillbirth

SNP MP, Patricia Gibson, has called for an independent body to review serious allegations of breaches of care together with time limits to complete investigations after her only child was stillborn at term.

Doctors  at Southern General Hospital in Glasgow failed to identify pre-eclampsia when Patricia presented with severe pains on her due date, and as a result, Kenneth, her son, died a day after his due date. Initially, Patricia and her husband were advised to return home. When the pains increased in severity and the couple returned to the hospital, she was admitted and her baby’s heart rate was normal. Sadly, on a ward round the following morning, his heartbeat failed to be detected and it was confirmed that Kenneth had died.   It was identified through the legal action that Patricia undertook, that if proper tests were conducted when the couple initially presented at the hospital, then pre-eclampsia would have been diagnosed and their baby would have been delivered safely.

Patricia fought hard, with an 18 month hospital inquiry and a six year legal battle, to get answers from the hospital about what happened: “When I left the hospital they said an investigation would be carried out and lessons would be learnt. But 18 months on, I had nothing from them. I chased them and eventually I got one A4 sheet of paper which I couldn’t make head or tail of… I said that I had waited 18 months and expected something of more substance. The report I had been handed looked like something that had been pulled off a shelf to shut someone up.”

Patricia is now pushing for a revised approach to similar situations, and has requested through the Health Secretary Shona Robinson, that hospitals should not be allowed to conduct their own investigations – and that an independent body should review the cases. She feels that it is also important for time limits to be placed on the reviews, as her own battle contributed to her grief.

Health Secretary, Shona Robinson has responded, stating that: “This is an extremely sad case and of course my sympathies are with Patricia and her family. While it’s vital that any unexpected death is properly investigated, we must also acknowledge that lengthy investigations can be upsetting for the families concerned. The 2016 Health Act, passed by parliament earlier this year, also contains measures to ensure that organisations are open and honest with people when unexpected or unintended harm happens which results in death or serious injury”.

Read the full article and for photo credit see here.