Ryan Lock

THE WATCHDOG THAT WATCHES NOBODY A baby died. Her name was Ida. She was six days old. The Care Quality Commission sent an inspector to look into her death at Royal Lancaster Infirmary, part of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust (@UHMBT). That inspector, Ian Kemp, says he wrote a hard report. He says the CQC watered it down before anyone saw it. Three hours before Ida's inquest was due to start, Kemp emailed the coroner directly. The inquest was halted. The CQC's lawyers told the court his allegations were not recognised. The coroner concluded Ida died because of the gross failure of three midwives to provide basic care. This is the same trust. The same hospital system found guilty in 2015 of a lethal mix of failures that killed 11 babies and a mother. Investigator Bill Kirkup told Ida's inquest the internal review praising staff had all the same shortcomings as the institution he had dissected a decade earlier. The trust's internal investigation after Ida's death found no care failings. It praised the great cohesion and communication of the delivery suite team. A regulator that softens its own inspector's findings. A trust that investigates itself and gives itself a clean bill of health. And a family that spent years fighting just to be told what anyone paying attention already knew. Source: @IndexCensorship / @ITVGranadaRpts / @BBC / @ComputerWeekly |

“The NHS is a safe place to have a baby.” That’s a powerful reassurance. But 65% of services are rated not safe by the Care Quality Commission. So what does “safe” actually mean? No harm? Or just no catastrophe this time? #MaternitySafety news.sky.com/video/share-13…

Here's @CMidOEngland Kate Brintworth's interview with @SkyNews, in full. Watching it was, for me, like being repeatedly punched. Devastating. The actual CMO dodges the questions, is dismissive, uses minimising language. It amounts to a denial. youtube.com/watch?v=r-8GdH…

This 👇 thank you @steveyemm for advocating for families. Your 💯 right a public inquiry is most definitely needed #maternity #publicinquiry #nottingham #unsafecare