BACKGROUND: (From an earlier post):
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Archie Powell was born at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent, on 10 February 2019. He was treated for a bowel condition but was actually suffering from a group B streptococcus infection. At the end of an inquest into Archie's death, the coroner concluded that had antibiotics been given earlier, he would have survived."
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STORY: "Archie Powell inquest: Hospital failures led to baby's death," by Reporter MichaelBuchanan, published by BBC News on December 3, 2021.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Archie Powell died from a group B streptococcus infection four days after he was born."
GIST: "A series of hospital failures led to the death of a four-day-old baby, an inquest has found.
Archie Powell was born at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent, on 10 February 2019.
He was treated for a bowel condition but was actually suffering from a group B streptococcus infection.
At the end of an inquest into Archie's death, the coroner concluded that had antibiotics been given earlier, he would have survived.
Archie was born healthy, but at 07:00, when he was six hours old, he started intermittently grunting - a sign of possible respiratory problems, the inquest heard.
The midwife caring for him alerted the on-call doctors but they didn't respond. Two further alerts were also ignored and Archie was not examined until 09:25, the inquest was told.
The doctor who did examine him failed to act on the reports of grunting, and further delays in transferring him to the hospital's special care baby unit meant Archie was not given life-saving antibiotics until 16:00.
By that time "the die had been cast, it was too late to make a difference to Archie", concluded the Kent assistant corner, Catherine Wood.
Despite being transferred to a hospital in London, Archie died aged four days.
'Everything's been taken away'
Ms Wood said: "If he [Archie] had been given antibiotics before noon, on the balance of probabilities, Archie would have survived".
She described a number of poor decisions and delays as "missed opportunities".
She said there had been a failure to escalate concerns, a failure to communicate those concerns clearly and a failure to provide the care that Archie needed.
Speaking after the conclusion of the inquest, Archie's parents said they "couldn't forgive" the errors made by the management and doctors at the QEQM, which is run by the East Kent Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
"Everything's been taken away from our entire family", said his mother, Dawn Powell.
"The only chance we have, not to see him exactly, is to visit his grave every week and to look at photos. That's all we've got left. It's indescribable."
The trust, which is at the centre of an independent investigation into maternity care and had failed to inform the coroner of Archie's death at the time, has issued an apology to his parents.
Speaking outside the court, Sarah Shingler, the hospital's chief nursing officer, said: "We recognise that we could and should have done things differently for Archie and we apologise unreservedly for failing him and his family.
"Since his death, we have made a number of changes in the service - to clinical practice and to staff training""
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
