His parents intend to sue the Royal Free NHS Hospital over the avoidable death of their newborn son, Riley Paterson Croft.

Parents sue hospital for neglect after son's death - Independent

Extract:

"The parents of a newborn baby who died due to neglect by medical staff are to sue the hospital involved.

Ian Croft and Heather Paterson said baby Riley would still be alive today had he received better care.

The couple, both BBC World Service journalists, added they had "no confidence" that mothers and their babies were safe in the care of one of London's top teaching hospitals, the Royal Free Trust in Hampstead, north London.

They have referred their midwife, Ine Toby, to the Nursing and Midwifery Council to decide whether she should be struck off. They said hospital managers "at the highest level" were responsible for her actions and should be held accountable.

Riley Paterson Croft died from asphyxia 35 minutes after he was born on 25 March 2005, after a traumatic and long labour. A jury at St Pancras Coroner's Court found yesterday that he died from natural causes contributed to by neglect."

It is not usually at all easy to get publicity for incidences of negligence by NHS health professionals. These grieving parents had the advantage of being BBC World Service journalists, which must have helped them to get the case reported and therefore to make it more likely that their desire for reform of the obstetrics services at this hospital may be achieved.

Research carried out for The Daily Telegraph reveals large disparity in mortality rates in NHS hospitals.

Revealed: Lottery of death rates in hospitals - Telegrpah

Extracts:

"Patients are twice as likely to die in hospitals with the highest mortality rates than in those with the lowest, according to a report from Dr Foster Research, the independent health information company.

It found that despite the Government pouring billions of pounds into the NHS, a postcode lottery exists with standards of care varying widely across the country."

"Patients at the Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust in north London were identified as the most likely to survive, with a mortality rate 26 per cent below the expected rate.

By contrast, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust in Nuneaton, Warks, had the highest mortality rate - 43 per cent above the expected rate.

The research did not investigate cause of death at individual hospitals but Dr Foster Research said typical factors would be medical error, infection and failure to deliver "quality of care"."

"Dr Foster Research's mortality rates, the most comprehensive ever compiled, are standardised to take into account a range of risk factors, such as the age of patients, sex, social demographics, the level of deprivation in the area and whether a patient has any other illnesses."

The Department of Health is, predictably, untroubled by these figures: "A Department of Health spokesman said: "We would strongly advise against patients using these figures to make decisions about the relative safety of hospitals. It is impossible to condense into one number the entire performance of a hospital in a way comparable with every other hospital in the country.""


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