Two weeks set aside for hearing into baby death

Friday 26 January 2018

Two weeks of court time have been reserved for the first hearing into the death of Baby A, after the inquest into his death resumed and was adjourned today.

The aim is for that hearing to take place between 18 June and 1 July.

The inquest itself was adjourned until 26 February, when a report will be heard about the documentation expert witnesses and Guernsey Police have viewed.

Changes were also made to the draft order.

At an earlier hearing, all parties involved had discussed appointing one expert witness in a neutral position, however the parties now differ in opinion and the need for the witness has been set aside.

It was decided other parts of the order relating to Baby A's inquest could wait until the police's document report was received. 

What has happened so far:

Previously, two Guernsey midwives were both struck off the nursing register following the death of Baby A, and also a second infant, known as Baby B, who died in September 2012.

The investigation into Baby B's death came as a result of the investigation into Baby A, which revealed further failings in midwifery care in Guernsey at the time.

Overall, three midwives were investigated and have faced sanctions in relation to the two infants' deaths.

During a Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing in 2017, Lisa Granville and Tuija Roussel were found guilty of serious misconduct and failures relating to the deaths, while a third, Antonia Manousaki, was suspended for a year by the NMC.

Investigations into Baby A's death previously heard that staff administered drugs without prescriptions, didn't speak to consultants, and failed to act on what monitors showed them. The NMC panel concluded that the death of Baby A on the Loveridge Ward at the PEH could have been prevented if adequate checks were carried out by Ms Granville following the death of Baby B two years previously.