Trust apologises after maternity unit probe

Bosses at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust have apologised for any mistakes made on the maternity units at two Greater Manchester Hospitals following an outside investigation into standards.

Independent experts were called to investigate the deaths of seven babies and three mothers at the Royal Oldham and North Manchester General hospitals between December 2013 and July 2014.

Gill Harris, chief nurse at the trust, which manages both hospitals, said: “Where the trust has made mistakes and the standards of care have fallen short of what both our staff and patients expect, we are deeply sorry.”

The review pointed to several points of failure including below-standard risk management during labour, an absence of clinical leadership and a mismanagement of the risk posed by three of the women being obese. But the report added the deaths were not the result of deficiencies in care.

The trust’s maternity units deliver around 10,000 babies a year.