Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

NHS Trust fined £800,000 for failings in care of mother and baby

Anthony May, chief executive of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (right) arriving at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (Jacob King/PA)
Anthony May, chief executive of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (right) arriving at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (Jacob King/PA)

An NHS trust has been fined £800,000 after admitting failures in the care of a mother and her baby, who died 23 minutes after being born.

Wynter Sophia Andrews died in the arms of her parents, Sarah and Gary Andrews, on September 15 2019 due to a lack of oxygen to the brain, shortly after an emergency Caesarean section.

At a hearing at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, which runs the hospitals, pleaded guilty to two charges relating to Wynter and Mrs Andrews of being a registered person who failed to provide care or treatment in a safe way resulting in harm or loss, in what is the first time the trust has ever been criminally prosecuted.

Passing sentence, which could have been a maximum of an unlimited fine, on Friday, District Judge Grace Leong said there were “systematic failures” in their care.

She said: “The catalogue of failings and errors exposed Mrs Andrews and her baby to a significant risk of harm which was avoidable, and such errors ultimately resulted in the death of Wynter and post-traumatic stress for Mrs Andrews and Mr Andrews.

“My assessment is that the level of culpability is high, where offences on Wynter and Mrs Andrews are concerned.

“There were systems in place, but there were so many procedures and practices where guidance was not followed or adhered to or implemented.”

The judge said that the full fine after a trial, combining the totals for offences against both Wynter and Mrs Andrews, would have been £1.2 million, but this was reduced to £800,000 due to the trust’s early guilty pleas.

It will also pay prosecution costs of £13,668.65 and a victim surcharge of £181, with Bernard Thorogood, mitigating on its behalf, asking for two years to pay the sum.

Outside the court on Wednesday, Mrs Andrews said in a statement that her daughter and family had been “failed in the most cruel way” and urged other mothers who may have been through similar experiences to take part in the Ockenden Review, a wide-ranging investigation into multiple failures in maternity care across the NUH trust.

Sarah Andrews (left) said the NUH trust "failed to listen and learn" to warnings about unsafe care in a statement outside Nottingham Magistrates Court on Wednesday (Jacob King/PA)
Sarah Andrews (left) said the NUH trust “failed to listen and learn” to warnings about unsafe care, in a statement outside Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (Jacob King/PA)

The trust accepted wrongdoing to the CQC several months prior to Wednesday’s court hearing, with chief executive Anthony May reiterating its apology.

In a statement, he said: “We are truly sorry for the pain and grief that we caused Mr and Mrs Andrews due to failings in the maternity care we provided.

“We let them down at what should have been a joyous time in their lives.”