'Dishonest' midwife struck off over failings in care of baby who died day after being born
A midwife found responsible for "serious misconduct" in the care of a baby who died has been struck off.
Claire Roberts had faced Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) disciplinary action over her actions in the care of Pippa Griffiths, who died just one day after being born at home in Myddle in April, 2016.
An earlier NMC hearing had found Roberts responsible for a catalogue of failings in the case – as well as making an inaccurate record of a conversation with Pippa's mother, Kayleigh, in an attempt to cover up her actions and "protect yourself from disciplinary action".
Panel chair, David Evans said the behaviour "would be regarded as deplorable by fellow practitioners".
After giving birth at the family home Mrs Griffiths had spoken with the midwives, who at the time worked for Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), to raise concerns that her daughter was not feeding and had brought up brown mucus.
Roberts, who did not take part in the disciplinary process or attend any of its hearings, was found to have failed to recognise the urgency of the need for medical or midwifery attention for Pippa.
The panel also found she had effectively tried to cover up over her actions during a 2.30am call where Mrs Griffiths had raised concerns about Pippa's condition.
The panel concluded the midwife had recorded an inaccurate version of the conversation at 6pm the following evening.
Handing down the sanction Mr Evans said Roberts' actions had involved "pre-meditated dishonesty", that "was repeated throughout subsequent investigations".
He added: "Mrs Roberts' actions were significant departures from the standards expected of a registered midwife and are fundamentally incompatible with staying on the register.
"To allow her to continue to practice would undermine confidence in the profession and the NMC as a registry.
"Nothing short of this would be sufficient in this case."
Joanna Young, a second midwife involved in Pippa's care, was also earlier found to have been responsible for serious misconduct, but received no sanction after the panel accepted that she had shown remorse and made genuine efforts to learn from the tragedy.
Speaking at a previous hearing Mr Evans said: "The panel is mindful that in the six years since you have worked for a considerable time as a health visitor and and no further concern has been received."
He added that Ms Young had completed "significant training" which had "focused on clinical areas of concern which arose from the incident in 2016".
Mr Evans said: "Although your fitness to practise may have been impaired at the time given all of the above your fitness to practise is not currently impaired."
Speaking following the conclusion of the hearings Mrs Griffiths said she and her husband, Colin, welcomed the decisions of the panel.
She said: "We think what was decided is fair given that one has clearly, very clearly, lied and been dishonest and is still a continued risk to patients.
"In terms of Joanna Young, she has done a lot of re-training, has shown remorse, which we have been told on a number of occasions, and in that we think it is okay for people to make mistakes as long as they recognise and learn from those mistakes."
Pippa's case is one of those being considered by the Ockenden investigation into maternity services at SaTH.
Mr and Mrs Griffiths' actions had led to the setting up of the inquiry, when they, jointly with fellow parents Rhiannon Davies and Richard Stanton whose baby Kate died avoidably while in the care of SaTH, wrote to the then Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt over their concerns.
