‘Negligence’ claim by family
Thursday, 28 August 2008
Janet Brown
THE family of a Magherafelt woman, who tragically died hours after giving birth, has accused Antrim Area Hospital of "negligence" after the release of external report into her death.
Janet Brown, a 28-year-old mother of three, died in September 2006 after giving birth to a healthy baby boy by Caesarean section at the County Antrim hospital.
A Pathologist report later revealed the young mum died of "morphine intoxication", she had received too much morphine.
Janet's brother, Arnold Scott, this week released a statement on behalf of the young mum's entire family, criticising an independent report which he claims "clearly identifies negligence" leading up to the death of his sister almost two years ago.
In a statement to the Northern Constitution, Mr Scott describes how his family presently feel "let down" and disappointed at the hospital's response to recommendations made on behalf of the Maternal Deaths Enquiry team in a report released last week.
Mr Scott said: "The family feel very disappointed and let down by the press statement made by the spokesman for Antrim Hospital as they feel the Trust has used the publication of the external enquiry as a PR exercise to paint a caring picture of the treatment patients receive in the hospital. On the contrary, the fact that the Trust has accepted all the recommendations made by the Enquiry Team, which clearly identifies management negligence in not ensuring that proper systems of control were in place in September 2006, when Janet died in their care. To date, the Trust has not acknowledged that negligence in their apology to the family and this caused additional hurt."
Mrs Brown gave birth to a healthy baby boy by caesarean section just after 4pm on September 12, 2006. After being returned to the maternity ward by midwife staff, she was fitted with a medical device known as a patient controlled analgesia (PCA) a small pump which allows patients to self administer and control morphine dosage. Checks on the young mum identified her as being either "sleepy/sleeping and snoring", however, hospital staff found Mrs Brown dead just a few short hours later.
The report, which highlights "discrepancies" and "inconsistencies" taken from Mrs Brown's obstetric notes just hours before her death, was commissioned by medical chiefs after the death of another young mum after giving birth at the same hospital in 2007.
Mr Scott further criticised the hospital and the report, which failed to pin-point a direct cause of Janet's death, of causing further frustration to the family.
The report also makes a number of "recommendations" to Antrim Area Hospital and notes a number of changes already implemented by staff since Mrs Brown's death, including the withdrawal of further use of the PCA device from May 2007. Other recommendations include training staff in the use of devices harbouring controlled drugs and keeping equipment attached to a patient "undisturbed" in the event of death, something that did not happen in Mrs Brown's case, as the PCA device used by her was disposed of immediately after her death. A Coroner's Inquest into the Magherafelt woman's death is due to take place from November 3rd. Mr Scott and his family say they are looking forward to the hearing which they hope will "shed some light" on the cause of their sister's death.
Mr Scott concludes; "It shows something went wrong and we need to know what it was. We feel this enquiry poses more questions than answers and just hope the inquest can shed some light on what actually happened."
Speaking after the release of Mr Scott's statement, a spokesman from the Northern Trust said they found it "highly inappropriate" to make a public comment before the official inquest into the young mum's death.
He said: "It would be highly inappropriate for the Trust to comment publicly on any detail in relation to this matter in advance of the Coroner's determination. We are happy to discuss with the family of Mrs Brown any concerns or issues they may have."
