Boy brain damaged in drug blunder

Darryl Munashe Kupahurasa, five, suffers from cerebral palsy and will never walk or talk owing to being starved of oxygen during his birth.

His devastated parents, Portia and Devon Kupahurasa, say they will “struggle to trust any medical staff again” and are now seeking compensation from Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, in order to pay for the care their little boy, known as Munashe, will need for the rest of his life.

Munashe’s brain damage was caused after staff at Doncaster Royal Infirmary wrongly gave his mother a drip containing an artificial hormone used to induce and aid labour.

The drug, which was only present in the delivery room on a precautionary basis in case it was needed, caused Mrs Kupahurasa’s contractions to become too strong.

This decreased the amount of oxygen to Munashe, causing a “catastrophic” brain injury.

As a result, the little boy, from Rossington in Doncaster, will suffer from severe cognitive and learning difficulties for the rest of his life. He will also require 24-hour care.

Mrs Kupahurasa, 32, said: “We are absolutely devastated by what happened, and incredibly angry and frustrated with the fact that it this could have been avoided.

“We just could not understand how something like this could happen.

“When you’re in a situation as vulnerable as that, you have to know that the staff around you know exactly what they are doing.

“Like any parents, we hope for our son to have a happy, healthy and successful life, but due to mistakes at the hospital he will never even be able to live independently.

“We will struggle to trust any medical staff again, but we hope the systems are improved so that, in future, nobody suffers like Munashe has.”

An internal investigation undertaken by NHS trust managers into the incident found that, while it was correct for the drip to have been present at the time of Mrs Kupahurasa’s labour in case it was needed, the administration of the drug was an error by hospital staff as it was not needed at that point.

The hospital has now made a full admission of liability for Munashe’s condition.

Sarah Rowland, an associate solicitor in the medical law team at Irwin Mitchell which is representing the family, said yesterday: “This was an entirely avoidable incident, which has had a tragic impact on the life of an individual and his family.

“Processes should be in place to prevent incidents like this occurring, and we hope that this case highlights the important lessons that need to be learned to prevent similar incidents happening again.”

Since Munashe was born five years ago, changes have been implemented at the hospital.

Paediatric registrars are always bleeped and are present at instrumental deliveries, whenever there is concern about a baby’s heartbeat.

Equipment such as hormonal drips, including the drug mistakenly used, is also now never taken into a delivery room unless it is prescribed. If the drug is taken into the delivery room, it is to be administered “immediately”.

Hilary Bond, director of nursing and quality at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We apologised unreservedly to Munashe and his family and reiterate that today.

“There have been substantial changes in practice since this incident occurred in 2007 and we can confirm to Munashe’s family that we have put in place all the lessons learned. We wish Munashe and his family well for the future.”