Scandal-hit Trust ‘pays out second highest total in maternity claims’

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has paid out over £58 million in compensation between 2019 and 2023, settling 60 cases during the period.

The claims were made against maternity units at the four hospitals within the Trust – the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Worthing Hospital, St Richard’s Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital.

The Royal Sussex’s maternity team is rated as inadequate by CQC, with the other three rated as requiring improvement, and growing concerns are being raised at the standards of care being delivered across the Trust.

Nine bereaved families, who had lost babies as a result of failings in the Trust’s maternity care between 2021 and 2023, recently united to call for a public inquiry specifically into the service being delivered by University Hospitals Sussex.

The Royal Sussex in Brighton – which is separately subject to the Operation Bramber police investigation, involving over 100 cases of people who have undergone surgery at the hospital – has been subject to longstanding concerns over its maternity safety, with doctors highlighting red flags in its provision.

Katie Fowler and Rob Miller, who lost their daughter Abigail at only two days old due to poor standards of care at the Royal Sussex, are among the families who are calling for change. Slater and Gordon are representing the couple in finding the answers they need around Abigail’s death.

Nisha Sharma, Principal Lawyer in our medical negligence team, is representing Katie and Rob and many other families in taking action against hospitals within the Trust – particularly the scandal-hit Royal Sussex.

“There are deep and genuine concerns that exist around the standards of maternity care being delivered by University Hospitals Sussex, and certainly from the many claims we have handled, these findings come as little surprise,” she says.

“The fact that this Trust alone has paid out over £58 million in compensation to families who have suffered because of their negligence in maternity is evidence of exactly why they need to improve – in 60 cases within a five-year period they have either admitted or been found to be at fault, and many more cases are ongoing.

“It is absolutely heartbreaking to think of the families and their own personal tragedies behind these numbers, trauma we see first-hand in supporting our clients to come to terms with what has happened at the hands of this Trust.

“Again, we call for urgent action to be taken in raising standards and addressing these very clear failings at their root, and for University Hospitals Sussex to listen to the voices of bereaved and traumatised families in taking all necessary steps to improve.”