The death of a baby seven days after his emergency delivery at Margate's Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM) was 'wholly avoidable', a coroner has ruled. Harry Richford died in 2017 after being born lifeless and suffering irreversible brain damage.
Coroner Christopher Sutton-Mattocks found that Harry's death was 'contributed to by neglect', citing failures including excessive use of the drug Syntocinon to speed up labour, delays in delivery, and inexperienced staff. The coroner said Harry's parents, Sarah and Tom Richford, 'were failed by the hospital, but more importantly Harry was failed'.
The inquest heard that Harry's heartbeat caused concern at 02:00 GMT on 2 November 2017, but he was not delivered until 03:32 by emergency Caesarean, by which time he was lifeless. Obstetrics expert Myles Taylor said 'but for a failure to deliver at 2am' Harry would have survived.
The coroner criticised the hospital trust for initially saying Harry's death was 'expected', which prevented the coroner being informed. It was only due to the family's persistence that an inquest was ordered.
Dr Paul Stevens, medical director for East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust, apologised wholeheartedly for the failings in Harry's care and accepted the coroner's conclusion. The coroner praised the parents for their dignity and noted that Harry 'should be almost two years and three months old... a bundle of energy'.
