New mother never saw twins after NHS failure to treat sepsis
AN NHS hospital has admitted failings after a young mother died suffering from sepsis just 48 hours after giving birth to twins.
Sophie Burgess delivered her children Evie and Oliver, but never saw them, after being forced to wait five hours to be transferred to intensive care, after diagnosis.
Royal Wolverhampton NHS Hospital Trust had admitted failings in the care and treatment of the young woman, who died in March 2015, and said lessons had been learned "to identify and manage sepsis as early as possible".
Despite being diagnosed with sepsis at 9.50pm, Miss Burgess, was not transferred to intensive care until 2.30am - almost five hours later, the law firm said.
Although the babies were eight weeks premature, the births went smoothly.
Kay Kelly, clinical negligence lawyer from Lanyon Bowdler, said the young woman was desperate to see the twins, in neo-natal care, but developed a fever.
She was given antibiotics, and midwives made repeated attempts to call for senior clinicians to attend Miss Burgess, but "nobody took important decisions and recognised how ill she was", the lawyer said.
The care worker was suffering from HELLP Syndrome, a life-threatening pregnancy condition, as well as sepsis.
"Her urine wasn't checked, they didn't notice the raised blood pressure, blood tests weren't taken and if they had been they would have almost certainly showed concerns that should have expedited her treatment," she added.
Miss Burgess had been diagnosed with sepsis at 9.50pm on March 12, but a decision to have her transferred to ICU came more than three hours later.
She did not actually arrive in intensive care until 2.30am the next day.
"Sophie should have been reviewed and transferred by 10.30pm but instead, she just had a midwife looking after her," said the lawyer.
"Even then, in ICU, there was a delay in giving her intravenous fluid and antibiotics - in giving her the urgent treatment she required - so she went into peri-arrest."
Ms Kelly said: "It is another terrible sepsis case. The family are obviously very angry and upset.
It's been very hard looking after the children.
"Twins are hard to look after and especially when the family are completely raw with grief."
Jonathan Odum, the Trust's medical director, said: "The Trust would once again like to offer our condolences and regret for the circumstances which led to the death of Sophie following the birth of the twins.
"The lessons identified from our investigation have been shared within the Trust and continue to help us to identify and manage sepsis as early as possible."
