Telford teenage mum's death was avoidable, hospital trust admits

The family of Telford mother Sophie Burgess is pursuing a clinical negligence case against the Royal Wolverhampton Hospital NHS Trust after she died at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton four years ago.

The trust said a three-hour delay in transferring the 19-year-old to intensive care and failure to provide the correct management to treat her deteriorating condition contributed to Sophie’s death.

It said lessons had been learned from Sophie's death, and it was helping to improve treatment people in similar conditions.

Sophie’s mother, Mandy Burgess, said they wanted people to know the truth.

“A lot of people assume that Sophie died in childbirth but we want people to know that she didn’t - she died because mistakes were made in that hospital,” she said.

"I am still very bitter. Sophie wouldn’t have given up without a fight but they never gave her that chance. They took it away from her.

"She was young and healthy and would have survived.

“You feel like you have let your kids down. It’s hell.

"I knew I should never have left her on her own in that hospital the night she died. The guilt will be there for the rest of my life.”

Law firm Lanyon Bowdler is handling the case for the family.

Kay Kelly, head of clinical negligence, said: "The family are still completely devastated by the tragedy which occurred on March 13, 2015.

“Sophie Burgess was a happy and healthy 19-year-old who was excitedly looking forward to being the mother of twins, but she never got to meet her babies due to failings in her care.

Angry

“The NHS Trust has accepted opportunities were missed to provide Sophie with the urgent specialist treatment she needed. The three-hour delay in transferring her to intensive care was due to a lack of leadership and management of the two conditions which led to her death - sepsis and HELLP Syndrome.

“Sophie’s family are understandably very angry and have pursued a clinical negligence case against the NHS Trust on behalf of Sophie’s infant twins, and now want to raise awareness to help other families avoid having to go through the same nightmare.

“They have been incredibly brave and strong throughout a terrible ordeal which no family should have had to face, and I am glad we have managed to prove the case.”

Jonathan Odum, Medical Director for RWT, 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."