A baby boy died after his mother was turned away from a maternity unit while in labour because there were not enough beds, an inquest was told.
Archie Batten’s mother was denied care at Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent and told to drive 38 miles to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
The mother-to-be returned home and started to give birth alongside midwives who assisted, but according to the family’s lawyer, offered a ‘poor quality of care.’
Baby Archie died on September 1 last year shortly after birth.
The details emerged at a pre-inquest review at Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone, Kent.
Archie Batten’s mother was denied care at Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent (pictured) and told to drive 38 miles to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford
During proceedings, the family’s lawyer said Archie’s mother should never have been sent away from the Margate unit, which had gone into ‘divert’ mode due to lack of beds so was not taking in any more patients.
Nick Fairweather said: ‘At 2.35pm, when she was turned away from hospital she was told she could access services at any time if needed.’
On her return at 4.50pm, he said she was told the hospital was in shutdown.
The lawyer added: ‘She should never have been sent away in the first place.’
He also criticised the quality of care by the four midwives that assisted Archie’s mother at home.
Mr Fairweather said: ‘What they failed to do was so fundamental they were not providing a meaningful service at all.’
Assistant coroner Sonia Hayes said the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) investigation found she should not have been sent home in the first place (pictured: Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate)
Assistant coroner Sonia Hayes said the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) investigation found she should not have been sent home in the first place.
She added: ‘If she hadn’t had been, the ”divert” wouldn’t have affected her.’
It was also heard there was incomplete record-keeping during her labour.
A full inquest is expected in the coming months and the coroner is considering whether to hold an Article 2 inquest, which is an enhanced hearing possibly with a jury.
She criticised the trust for failing to submit documents in time, including Archie’s medical notes and an up-to-date full disclosure document.
Archie’s inquest follows that of baby Harry Richford in January in which a coroner found his death was ‘wholly avoidable.’
Harry was born at the QEQM on November 2, 2017, after a long labour and chaotic delivery by emergency caesarean, performed by an inexperienced locum.
Archie’s inquest follows that of baby Harry Richford in January in which a coroner found his death was ‘wholly avoidable’. Sarah and Tom Richford are pictrued with their son Harry
When he was eventually delivered, it took medics almost half an hour to resuscitate him.
It left him so unwell that he had to be transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
The coroner said the baby boy would have lived if it had not been for the hospital’s failures.
He set out 19 recommendations for improvements in a report published in full on Monday.
An independent inquiry is being held into maternity services at East Kent NHS Foundation Trust after it emerged there has been as many as 15 preventable baby deaths under their services.
The troubled trust has brought in maternity experts, including midwives and obstetricians, to effect ‘imminent improvements.’
A Trust spokesman said: ‘We know that we have not always provided the standard of care for every woman and baby that they expected and deserved, and wholeheartedly apologise to every one of those families we have let down.
‘We are taking all necessary steps to provide safe care and we are treating the recently raised concerns about the safety of our service with the utmost seriousness and urgency.
They added: ‘This includes making use of support from leading maternity experts, who have already identified further improvements that we will make.
‘We recognise that the change needed in our maternity service has not taken place quickly enough, and we are doing everything we can to improve our culture so that we become an organisation which is constantly learning and improving.’