Cash-crisis hospital could not take mother to see dying baby

Sarah Wallace also says she was told staff shortages at Scarborough District General Hospital meant she was not given the opportunity to hold her baby Harry while he was still alive, and did not even know he was fighting for his life.

An independent expert’s report, commissioned by her lawyers, identified a series of errors by staff, including:

Failure to follow proper respiratory support procedures;

Failure to transfer Harry urgently to a specialist unit in Leeds;

Failure to ventilate the baby and help him breathe by properly putting a tube in his windpipe as his condition deteriorated.

Mrs Wallace, 29, who has three other young children, said: “It’s just heart-breaking that the reason I didn’t get to see Harry before he died was because lack of funding meant there was no one available to take me to the special care baby unit. It’s scandalous and I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to any other mums.

“I didn’t have the chance to will Harry to live. I couldn’t hug him while he was warm. I didn’t get to see his little toes wriggling. They even forgot to take a photo of him while he was alive. All I have is a lock of his hair and his hand and foot prints.”

Harry was born eight weeks early by emergency Caesarean section at 10pm on September 10, 2009.

He weighed 3lb 11oz and was immediately taken to the special care baby unit.

Mrs Wallace said: “The midwife brought Harry for me and (husband) Scott to kiss him before he was whisked off. But I don’t remember much about this as I was part way through my operation.”

Mr Wallace spent a couple of hours with Harry before his wife urged him to go home to rest. Neither he nor his wife realised Harry was in difficulty.

Mrs Wallace asked to see her baby throughout the night, but was told that because of staff shortages no one was available to take her from her bed to baby Harry.

“I was kept in the dark,” she said. “I didn’t know Harry was fighting for his life. I’d have crawled to him on my hands and knees if I’d known.

“To this day, Scott and I feel like we weren’t there when he needed us.”

The next morning at 7am Mr Wallace appeared red-eyed at her bedside and told her Harry had died at 6.42am from breathing difficulties.

Mrs Wallace, who is from Scarborough and has an 11-year-old son and two younger daughters, said the tragedy of losing Harry was exacerbated by the difficulties she encountered while trying to get straight answers from the hospital authorities.

A week after Harry’s death a consultant told her the reason she was not taken to see him was because there were not enough staff owing to the hospital’s debts.

She then sought legal advice from medical negligence expert Chris Moore at Neil Hudgell solicitors.

The firm commissioned an independent report into the case then submitted a claim for compensation for medical negligence against Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the hospital. The claim has now been settled.

Mrs Wallace, who has suffered depression and anxiety since Harry’s death, endured a traumatic pregnancy and a low-lying placenta, a complication known as placenta previa, which caused her to bleed heavily 14 times.

She said: “I am hoping that by speaking out I’ll create awareness of placenta previa. I wasn’t fully told what the implications could be for me or my baby. I got conflicting advice from the different doctors and midwives. If I can just stop one other mum going through what I’ve suffered it’ll be worth it.”

A spokeswoman for the trust said: “A settlement has now been agreed in this case. We regret the circumstances of Harry’s death and we are sorry for the impact this has had on his family.”