Inquiry launched into death of baby girl born in Shropshire hospital

The review will look at how Kate Stanton-Davies was cared for after she was born with anaemia at Ludlow Hospital. She was transferred to Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital but died six hours after she was born.

A 2012 inquest found that Kate would have survived if she had been born elsewhere and that the original classification of the pregnancy as low-risk was a contributory factor in her death.

It comes after Kate's parents Richard Stanton and Rhiannon Davies met with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to discuss their case. The couple were joined by Peter Herring, chief executive of Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Hospital Trust, and the trust's chairman Peter Latchford.

Kate's parents spent several years calling for an inquiry into their daughter's death.

The hospital trust apologised to the couple in a letter in January this year.

Mr Stanton described yesterday's meeting with Mr Hunt as "positive" and said the health secretary was supportive of their case.

He said: "The health secretary told us that having to wait six-and-a-half years to get where we wanted to was far too long.

"Now he has taken a personal interest in our case, Mr Hunt will keep an eye on the independent inquiry and make sure it leads to the necessary changes.

"One of the first questions Mr Hunt asked Mr Herring was why it had taken them so long to apologise to us.

"Mr Herring's answer was that he thought it had already been done, which is inexcusable for a man in his position – the buck has to stop with him.

"Complaints have to be investigated properly and it is a relief that the trust has finally accepted that an inquiry needs to be held into the death of our daughter."

Sarah Broomfield, director of nursing and quality at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust said that the loss of a child was a situation none of us would wish to face.

She said: "The care given to Ms Davies and her daughter in 2009 failed to meet the high standards we set for every one of our patients.

"Furthermore, we recognise that we also fell short in the trust's complaint-handling process and we are truly sorry for the pain and distress that caused. We have acknowledged and unreservedly apologised for these shortcomings and it is crucial to ensure that we learn from them.

"We are commissioning a review into both the care and treatment provided to Ms Davies and the trust's subsequent handling of the couple's concerns."