Newborn died unnecessarily after medical staff missed opportunities to save him
Posted: March 1, 2014
Posted in: Birth Injury Medical Negligence Wrongful & Accidental Death
The parents of a newborn baby that died only nine days after birth feel “let down” by the maternity staff at Furness General Hospital. Joshua Titcombe died in 2008 due to natural causes, but an inquest found that medical staff missed multiple opportunities to save his life. Following the baby’s death, the family said that they have suffered “unnecessary distress” as a result of how the hospital dealt with the incident. A lack of openness and honesty on the hospital’s part made the loss of the baby far worse.
A watchdog attained three complaints from the family concerning the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust’s handling of the incident. The trust apologised for the family’s loss and accepted their responsibility in the case.
‘We miss him everyday’
The father of Joshua, James Titcombe, said that the family appreciated the report’s recommendations for change and the ombudsman’s apology for her predecessor refusing to investigate the family’s complaints. He continued: “Joshua’s death has had an unbearable impact on our family … We miss him every day and continue to be haunted by the trauma of his short life and his horrific preventable death.”
Trust chief executive Jackie Daniel said that all recommendations would be acted upon and that steps would be taken to ensure that this distress is not experienced again in future. Improvements are also to be made concerning how complaints are handled by the trust.
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