A six day inquest into the death of one day old Nelly Webb, born on 1st January 2019 at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in South Wales, has found that systemic failings at the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board led to her preventable death.
The Article 2 compliant inquest found that Nelly’s mother Jessica should not have given birth at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital which was not equipped to care for the complex needs of a baby of her prematurity.
During the inquest, the coroner heard from Allison Williams, chief executive at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board from 2011 until her resignation in August 2019, who agreed that Nelly’s mum should have been transferred to a specialist facility before Nelly’s birth.
Williams resigned after an extended period of sick leave following the publication of a damning report in April 2019 into the maternity services at the Royal Glamorgan and Prince Charles Hospitals.
Commenting on behalf of Nelly Webb’s parents Jessica and Rikki Webb, Diane Rostron, birth injuries solicitor, said:
“We welcome the coroner’s finding that systemic failings at the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board led to the preventable death of one day old Nelly Webb in 2019.
“The coroner heard that serious concerns relating to the maternity services delivered by the health board were known nearly a year before Nelly was born.
“The inquest also heard that Allison Williams, the health board’s chief executive at the time of Nelly’s death, agreed that as a high risk pregnancy, Jessica should have been transferred, before Nelly was born at 30 weeks’ gestation, to another hospital with more experience in maternity and neonatal care.
“Jessica and Rikki lost their first born little girl in circumstances that could have been avoided. They have been left deeply traumatised by their loss. We hope that this finding leads to key learnings. The family will now pursue a medical negligence claim against the hospital.”
The Royal Glamorgan Hospital stopped providing specialist neonatal care two months after Nelly’s death following a consultation.
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