By Lucy Caulkett-
The Royal London Hospital has been heavily criticised for the risk of babies being swapped or abducted
NHS inspectors have criticised one of Britain’s biggest hospitals for failing to beat abduction risk of new-born babies from its maternity wards. When mothers attend a hospital to give birth, they expect a relatively smooth process. The pregnancy pain is one thing every woman has to come to terms with. Going home with the wrong baby is something no mother should need to put up with or come to terms with. Not even a 0.1% risk of this happening is acceptable. Carelessness of any level when it comes to babies should be an imprisonable offence It really should.
The Royal London Hospital is one hospital no mother should want to have their child born.
This is because of the risk of going home with the wrong baby, according to reports. The Care Quality Commission said an electronic tagging system needs to be introduced at the Royal London , in Whitechapel, almost two years after it first raised concerns. This is because the risk of a mother going home with somebody else’s child has not be eliminated. It remains high despite this being raised as a serious issue two years ago.
The deafened ears of those in a position to change poor situations has always been the problem with different sectors of the economy. One would think in this modern day and age, people would be more sensible and quick to respond to serious issues. The Royal London hospital is one of Britain’s biggest hospital. As such, we should expect it to run a top service. Afterall, it isn’t called the Royal London Hospital for no reason. The title of Royal attached to it suggests some association with the Royal family , without this in any way making the Royal family responsible in any way for its failings.
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The Royal London hospital even without a direct or indirect association with the Royal Family has the Royal badge attached to it. It should be top notch. Instead, we have a stream of seriously worrying complaints that the safety of babies are at risk because somebody or some people refuse to do a good job.
Every child is special to their mother. Taking the wrong baby home due to mistakes or insecurity is ridiculous and unforgivable. Nobody is interested in excuses.
CQC report
A new CQC report rated the Royal London’s maternity services “inadequate” and said the hospital, rebuilt at a cost of £650 million, overall “required improvement”, though its adult major trauma unit was rated as outstanding.
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Inspectors found midwives “felt at risk at night” and there were “no checks” on who was visiting the post-natal ward. This level of insecurity is so appalling, it is a surprise nobody is loosing their job over this extreme failure.
One inspection revealed some disturbing finding. Seven babies were not wearing identity wristbands, exposing them to a risk of receiving the wrong medicine, or of mothers leaving with the wrong baby.
The report said: “Babies’ security was not treated as a priority.” An ongoing cash crisis was blamed for the delay in the introduction of a tagging system. With no injection of cash in sight, elimination of the risks don’t seem any nearer.
Barts Health runs the Royal London, but is an extremely indebted trust, with an expected deficit of £82.7 million this year. The implication here seems to be that short of a miraculous hand of intervention from the government or some concerned billionaire, nothing will change.
Trust bosses have played down the report, saying it has been misunderstood and lacks evidence to suggest any real threat of abductions.
State Of Affairs
CQC chief inspector of hospitals Sir Mike Richards told the eye of media.com ”something urgent needs to be done. This state of affairs must not continue because it is dangerous to the interest and well being of babies.
“Most worrying of all was the lack of a safe and secure environment for new-born babies. We raised this with the Royal London as a matter for their urgent attention. “Not enough has changed since then , raising wider issues of governance”.
A separate CQC report also published today found Whipps Cross Hospital, in Leytonstone run by Barts Health was still inadequate.
Inspectors who visited in the summer reported a lack of compassion to patients coming close to the end of their lives. Some were “visibly in pain” but were not given painkillers. Disturbing reports like these have become common place in various fields.
Incompetence and below standard operations are deeply worrying signals of a failing system that needs to improve drastically.
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