The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman has recently published details of its investigation into a complaint against NHS Grampian by a father whose premature baby had died shortly after birth.

According to the Ombudsman, the pregnancy had been a difficult one, with the mother suffering from a number of health issues, and the baby had not been growing as it should. She was admitted to hospital and after two weeks the baby was delivered by caesarean, but sadly died an hour later.

The father made a complaint to the Ombudsman about the care his wife received towards the end of her pregnancy. The Ombudsman investigated three main areas of complaint, and upheld two of them, but highlighted the fact that the baby’s chances of survival had always been incredibly slim because of her small size and very premature birth.

According to the report, the complaints investigated were that the NHS Grampian:

“(a) failed to adequately manage the later stages of the mother’s pregnancy including the birth of her baby (upheld);
(b) failed to adequately assess the possible success of continued resuscitation (not upheld); and
(c) failed to adequately communicate with the parents (upheld).”

The Ombudsman made a number of recommendations for the Health Board. According to the BBC, NHS Grampian has accepted these recommendations and also intends to apologise to the parents.

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