Mother denied compensation after baby’s death linked to poor care

Tanya Linehan, a mother whose infant son died following inadequate care at a Kent maternity unit, has been informed that she will not be awarded any compensation. Her son, Ashton, was stillborn in 2012 at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent. The family’s experience formed a significant part of The Kirkup inquiry, which investigated failures at the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust. This inquiry concluded that the care the family received “failed to meet the standards required”. After the hospital trust invited them to discuss compensation earlier this year, they have now been told they will “get nothing”. Ms. Linehan stated that the trust is “in denial of the impact their negligence has had on me and my family”. The inquiry into the hospital trust’s maternity care was led by Dr. Bill Kirkup and its report was published in October 2022. It determined that 45 babies could have survived, and 12 who sustained brain damage might have had a different outcome. The inquiry also found that 23 women who either died or suffered injuries could have experienced better outcomes if care had been provided according to “nationally recognised” standards. Since the release of the Kirkup report, the Linehan family has collaborated with the hospital trust in an effort to enhance maternity care for other families. In May, Ms. Linehan was invited by senior staff at the trust to discuss compensation. Over the subsequent five months, the family and senior trust personnel held several meetings to deliberate on the specifics of a potential compensation package. However, at the final meeting on Thursday, Tracey Fletcher, the trust’s chief executive, informed the family, “you will get nothing.” The family reported that no reasons were provided for this decision. Ms. Linehan remarked: “It felt like we were back with that same feeling that this trust doesn’t care.” She added, “For them to say five months down the line that they’d made the decision to not make any payments to me was really devastating.” Her father, Phil Linehan, described the Kirkup report as a good report but expressed that “he had no faith at all” in the hospital trust’s capacity to implement its findings. In a statement, the hospital trust communicated: “We are sincerely sorry for the loss of baby Ashton and the devastating and lasting impact on his family of the trust’s failure to provide the safe care the family should have received, and which was highlighted in the Reading the Signals [Kirkup] report.“We are committed to working with and listening to all families as we continue to improve maternity care.“There is an established process for compensation within the NHS and after careful consideration the trust has concluded that regrettably it is unable to make a payment outside of that process.”