'It was a cover-up': Coroner launches stinging attack on 11 midwives who failed to spot baby's infection and then 'conspired to hide negligence'

Midwives face a police inquiry after a nine-day-old boy died a needless and ‘horrible’ death.

Joshua Titcombe was killed by an infection which could have been cured with antibiotics. But hospital staff ignored parents’ concerns, telling his father: ‘He’s fine, it’s your wife you need to worry about.’

At an inquest into the tragedy, coroner Ian Smith considered evidence from 11 midwives working at Furness General Hospital in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.
And in a dramatic conclusion to the hearing he accused them of a cover-up and collaborating over their failure to recognise that Joshua had the infection.

‘Incriminating’ medical notes may have been deliberately destroyed to protect blundering staff and there was a ‘very worrying mark of suspicion’ hanging over why an observation chart went missing, he told the hearing.

Recording a verdict of natural causes, Mr Smith listed ten failings by staff in what he described as an ‘appalling’ case. Yesterday, Cumbria Police revealed a team of detectives was in the early stages of an investigation into the death.

Joshua, who suffered a lung infection and bled to death, would have had a 90 per cent chance of survival if given antibiotics immediately after his birth, the inquest heard.

The baby picked up the infection his mother was suffering from when she gave birth and there were ‘a number of missed opportunities’ to save him.

No doctor saw Joshua until he fell unconscious.

His mother, Hoa Titcombe, had been feeling unwell before and after giving birth at the hospital in October 2008, and was given antibiotics.

Mrs Titcombe, 35, and her engineer husband James, 33, asked staff if the newborn, who weighed just under 7lb, needed antibiotics, but no one took their fears seriously.

She broke down in tears as she recalled how her baby, then a day old, had been cleared to go home but was taken seriously ill minutes before they were due to leave.

'Joshua collapsed,’ she said. ‘He was blue and there were lots of bubbles coming from his mouth. I ran to the corridor and shouted for help. They came and said he was struggling to breathe. I was crying and very worried.’

Tony Halsall, chief executive of the Morecambe trust, said: ‘We know that our apologies cannot lessen the pain and suffering of Joshua’s parents. We have taken all the steps we can to minimise the risk of this happening again.’

Yesterday, a police spokesman said three officers monitored evidence at the inquest, which will ‘form part of the investigation’.

The Titcombes – who have a six-year-old daughter, Emily – have had another girl since the tragedy. Jessica is 20 months.

This article is courtesy of the Daily Mail.