Two babies died on neonatal ward at Bradford Royal Infirmary following bacteria outbreak in 2021
Following the deaths of two babies, in a neonatal ward at Bradford Royal Infirmary, Bradford Teaching Hospitals said additional infection prevention and control measures have been put in place
Since the deaths of two babies, following an outbreak of a bacterial infection, on a neonatal ward at Bradford Royal Infirmary, the trust told us measures have been put in place.
After they died in November 2021, Bradford Teaching Hospital conducted an investigation into the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
It found there was an outbreak of antibiotic resistant Klebsiella on the ward, in November 2021.
Tom Mather, from Irwin Mitchell, the solicitors representing the family said: "It is the most tragic of situations, to have to lose a baby anyways, but in such tragic circumstances and actually to understand that this could have been avoided, and I think there is nothing more painful than that."
He also said: "I think that what they the families are calling for, and what they hope for, from this, is what you would expect many families would be asking for in this situation, my goodness how did this happen, but for goodness sake, lets make sure this doesn't happen again."
A spokesperson for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We would again like to express our sincere condolences to the families affected for their sad loss.
“Bradford Royal Infirmary’s Neonatal Unit, which is a regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, had an outbreak of antibiotic resistant Klebsiella in November 2021.
“The bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae, contributed to the deaths of two extremely premature babies. Klebsiella is a naturally occurring bacteria found in a person’s intestines but can cause infection in sick and vulnerable patients. Another baby died from complications related to Klebsiella oxytoca meningitis, a different species of the bacteria, in an unrelated isolated case in April of the same year.
“Unfortunately, the strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae identified in the November outbreak was resistant to gentamicin, the recommended antibiotic used to treat this infection. Infection outbreaks are sadly not an uncommon problem in neonatal intensive care units across the world and antibiotic resistance is an increasing concern.
“Following an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the babies’ deaths we completed the actions identified, including putting in place additional infection prevention and control measures, increasing staffing levels and training more of our neonatal nurses to provide intensive care.
Additional infection prevention and control measures have been put in place
“A recent assurance review of our neonatal services carried out by NHS England and the West Yorkshire NHS ICB concluded that the service provides safe, high-quality care.
“We are committed to learning from these incidents to improve outcomes for all babies and the Neonatal Unit continues to provide the highest quality specialist care to all the babies there.”