A state review has found that seven of the 11 stillborn deaths which occurred during 2013 and 2014 at a Bacchus Marsh hospital could have been avoided.
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IT will take time to rebuild community trust in a Victorian hospital where seven babies died in avoidable circumstances, says a delegate appointed to the board of the Djerriwarrh Health Service.
Health Minister Jill Hennessy said on Friday that a two-year investigation into a doctor who worked at the Bacchus Marsh and Melton Regional Hospital, about 60km west of Melbourne’s CBD, linked the preventable deaths together.
A doctor no longer working at the hospital was linked to a few of the unusually high number of deaths, and was subjected to an internal investigation over 28 months.
Five of the deaths occurred in 2013 and two in 2014. Parhar was involved in a 28-month investigation by the Australian Health Practitioners Registration Agency in 2013.
The entire board of the Djerriwarrh Health Service has been stood down and all midwifery services have been reviewed in what has been described as a “catastrophic event”.
“You can imagine this would be extremely distressing for these families who have already suffered a painful loss”.
‘I am deeply conscious that nothing can change the past for these families, ‘ Ms Hennessey said.
Amy had not felt her baby move in over 24 hours when arriving at the hospital, and even with her baby’s heart rate shown to be unstable, she was sent home by attending staff. Upon seeing her GP, she was immediately sent back to the hospital, where the staff were still reluctant to treat her. The treatment Amy eventually received resulting in improper anesthesia during surgery, causing her to feel the incision during her cesarean section.
Law firm Maurice Blackburn have confirmed on radio station 3AW that they have been contacted by two families over the deaths of their babies at the hospital.
A spokeswoman for the firm said: “What we’re concerned about is this is just the tip of the iceberg”.
It is understood other families have no reason to be alarmed.
“Through our midwife members from the hospital, the ANMF (Vic Branch) was aware that a few midwives, and possibly doctors, had raised concerns with management and left the service in frustration when their concerns weren’t addressed”.
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“We know that there were an increased number of births at the service and this was not proportionately matched by increased staff or infrastructure”.
