Bodies found in ‘advanced deterioration’ at under-fire Nottingham trust
Problems with post-mortem care came to light after the parents of Harriet Hawkins, who was stillborn at NUH in 2016, discovered her body had been allowed to decompose so badly that it had to be wrapped three times for her burial.
A subsequent investigation identified 17 areas of concern and launched a review into the post-mortem care provided to 16 other babies and one mother by the independent maternity review.
They found that a baby in early gestation was disposed of as clinical waste, the wrong baby was given to funeral directors, and a deceased mother’s condition deteriorated so much that her family were advised not to see her before the funeral.
“The review found evidence of repeated examples of failure to protect the dignity of the deceased, including inadequate arrangements for the carrying out of pediatric autopsies,” Ockenden said in his report. he said.
The problems prompted the Human Tissue Authority (HTA), which regulates funeral care in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to examine the trust’s services.
One unannounced inspection, external In March, it found three critical, six major and one minor deficiencies that were against its standards at two hospitals operated by the foundation, QMC and City Hospital.
The HTA found there was no freezer space at either Nottingham hospital, meaning some bodies were instead placed in a refrigerated area.
Eight of the bodies showed “advanced decomposition” because they were not transferred to the freezer in time.
HTA found that some infant autopsy examinations were performed in an inadequately ventilated laboratory, with support staff not trained in morgue care, rather than being performed in an autopsy room.
An accompanying audit found that just over half of the 145 recorded incidents that should have been forwarded to the regulator did not occur.
