Russells Hall Hospital trust admits safety failings over patient deaths

A lawyer acting for the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust admitted two breaches of the 2008 Health and Social Care Act on the Trust’s behalf on Friday.

A hearing at the town’s magistrates’ court was told the proceedings followed an investigation by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) into the care provided by the trust before the deaths of mother-of-six Natalie Billingham, from Tipton, and teenager Kaysie-Jane Robinson, from Netherton.

The charges admitted by the trust stated that it had failed to provide treatment in a safe way, resulting in harm, in February and March 2018.

In a statement issued earlier this year, the CQC said it had brought the prosecution following two specific incidents in which patients died at Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley.

A previous hearing was told by counsel for the CQC, Ian Bridge, that the charges related to clinical care given to 33-year-old Ms Billingham before her death, and to Kaysie-Jane, who was aged 14 when she died.

He told the court both patients had been treated for sepsis.

The Dudley Group Trust’s lawyer, Paul Spencer, said the organisation’s guilty plea in respect of Ms Billingham, from Tipton, was being entered on the basis that it did not accept its failings led to her death.

But Mr Spencer added that the trust did accept that the “poor care and treatment” of Kaysie-Jane had caused her death.

Kaysie-Jane had cerebral palsy and was dependent on the care of her mother Jane after suffering brain damage during her birth.

Adjourning the case, which was not opened by the prosecution, District Judge Graham Wilkinson described the proceedings as "the most serious case this court is likely to deal with in many a year".

Judge Wilkinson told the lawyers involved in the case: "I am grateful that we have made significant progress this afternoon.

"I am sure the families will be grateful as well."

Mrs Billingham died of multiple organ failure after having three operations during which her leg was amputated, an inquest into her death was told in 2018.

Her death was not down to neglect, the inquest heard.

She had been admitted with suspected deep vein thrombosis but was eventually diagnosed with with "flesh-eating disease" necrotizing fasciitis and sepsis, the inquest was told.

Coroner Zafar Siddique said at the time: "She was a young mother with very young children and I can't imagine the pain you are all going through."

In a statement after the hearing, the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust said: "The trust has pleaded guilty today for failing to provide safe care in 2018 to two of our patients, Kaysie-Jane Bland and Natalie Billingham.

"We are deeply sorry that our care did not meet the high standards Kaysie-Jane and Natalie and their families had a right to expect and did not reflect the values of our trust.

"Today’s hearing is an important part of the process that has investigated what happened, provides an opportunity to reiterate our apology to Kaysie-Jane and Natalie’s families and demonstrates the major steps we have taken to invest in and improve our services since 2018.

"We have been open and sincere over the last three years about what went wrong, what we have learned and how we have improved.

"The trust continues to work closely with CQC and we want to reassure our patients and the public that the hospital provides a safe and compassionate environment for their care."

A further case management hearing will take place at the same court on September 3.