Are mothers being put at risk by a sharp jump in the number of mistakes on NHS maternity wards?

Mistakes on maternity wards put mothers at risk
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The patient safety watchdog was notified of 70,108 "incidents" on neonatal units in 2007, double the 35,428 reported in 2005.

More mothers are being abused by ward staff, and there are more mistakes with medication and equipment, the figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show.

The number of accidents suffered by pregnant women on wards also rose, from 1,584 to 1,060.

Overall, more than one in 10 mothers was a victim of a potentially serious incident while in hospital last year, either before or shortly after the birth of their child."

Replacing senior staff will put babies and infants at risk, doctors and patient groups warn.

Babies 'will be put at risk' as experienced doctors are replaced by trainees - Independent on Sunday

Extract:

"A government plan to cut senior staff in paediatric wards and neonatal units and replace them with trainee doctors will put infants at risk, doctors and patient groups have warned.

Under the Government's controversial Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) programme, senior staff on some paediatric wards will be replaced by trainee doctors from August.

The move is part of a government plan to reform training for NHS doctors. Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Health, said recently that this was needed "not just for junior doctors themselves, the workhorses of the NHS working quite outrageously long hours, but also for the sake of patients".

Busy paediatric wards have up to seven specialist paediatric senior house officers (SHOs) - doctors with up to four years' experience. Most could be replaced under MMC.

In future, trainee doctors with one or two years' experience will spend four months in paediatrics before moving on to another specialism, and would not necessarily have any interest in that area of medicine.

The move has alarming implications for the 45,000 babies born prematurely each year. Babies born at 23 weeks have a 17 per cent chance of survival and require expert medical support, while half of all babies born before 30 weeks suffer from apnea, which causes them to stop breathing."

Shortage of nurses to care for premature babies

Premature babies 'in peril from staff shortage' - Telegraph

Extract:

"Today's report, by Bliss, the premature baby charity, and based on a survey of the 224 neonatal units in Britain, says that despite the billions of pounds being poured into the NHS, premature baby services remain severely under-resourced and overstretched.

Neonatal units are understaffed by a third, yet there was a "proven link" between staffing ratios and infant death rates.

Research from the University of Oxford's National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit showed that if the recommended level of one nurse to one baby in intensive care were reached, infant deaths could be reduced by 48 per cent. Only 3.8 per cent currently achieve the recommended staff ratios. The charity, established 27 years ago by a group of concerned parents, said that while advances in technology had resulted in more babies surviving, there were chronic shortages of specialist nurses to provide the care."

See my earlier post today about the colossal waste of NHS cash on the grandiose IT fiasco.

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