Our response to Reading the Signals
In October 2022 Dr Bill Kirkup published Reading the signals, his report of the independent investigation of maternity and neonatal services in East Kent Hospitals between 2009 and 2020.
The report found that women, babies and their families had suffered significant harm because of poor clinical care but also that we did not listen to women, their families and indeed at times, our own staff.
The experience those families endured was unacceptably and distressingly poor, it repeatedly lacked kindness and compassion, both while families were in our care and afterwards.
There were at least eight opportunities where the Trust Board and other senior managers could and should have acted to tackle these problems effectively.
Of the 202 cases that agreed to be assessed by the panel, the outcome for babies, mothers and families could have been different in 97 cases, and the outcome could have been different in 45 of the 65 baby deaths, if the right standard of care had been given.
The Trust Board has apologised unreservedly for the pain and devastating loss endured by the families and for the failures of the Board to effectively act. We accept all that the report says, and remain determined to use the lessons within it to put things right.
We are also clear that there is learning from the lessons in the report for every area of our organisation; these are not just confined to maternity.
We have worked hard to improve our services and have invested to increase the numbers of midwives and doctors, in staff training, and in listening to and acting on feedback from the people who receive our care.
We are using a nationally renowned Culture and Leadership Programme and Quality Improvement approach to improve the way our teams work together and leaders support and lead their teams; provide better, safer and more compassionate care and make sure we are open and are learning from mistakes when they happen.
Read more about the work we are doing to improve
If you would like to get involved, please contact our Patient Voice and Involvement Team at ekhuft.patientvoice@nhs.net.
If you have used our maternity or neonatology services, or any of the services we provide, and have questions or concerns about your care, please contact us via our PALS team, by phone on 01227 783145 or via email at ekh-tr.pals@nhs.net.