BEREAVED parents whose babies died at Furness General Hospital claim not enough has been done to ensure families are safe in the wake of the Morecambe Bay Investigation.

The maternity unit at the hospital in Dalton Lane was said to be “seriously dysfunctional” in the controversial report published a year ago this week.

But despite a series of recommendations laid out by investigation chief Dr Bill Kirkup to immediately improve standards of care, families who campaigned to bring the scandal to light say not enough progress has been made.

Patient safety champion and Dalton resident James Titcombe, who lost his son Joshua at FGH in 2008 when midwives failed to notice he had a treatable infection, said change towards safer maternity services had been ‘too slow’. “It’s really concerning and not good enough.” Mr Titcombe said.

“We need a real push over this next few months to start to embed real change.

“The National Maternity Review is an absolute dog’s breakfast,” he added.

“The agenda from the start was about money rather than safety.”

Mr Titcombe, OBE, 38, went on to label the organisation that runs FGH – the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust – “disgusting” after it was revealed staff involved in the care of baby Joshua still work on the maternity ward.

He said: “I am absolutely disgusted with the trust. They have washed their hands of any accountability and have done absolutely nothing.

“It’s deeply wrong. Nothing is going to change unless people are held to account.”


Liza and Simon Davey Brady.  Walney mum Liza Davey Brady has been a member of a committee to help oversee improvements at the hospital since last year.

Her little boy Alex was stillborn on the unit after his birth was botched by midwife Marie Ratcliffe - now banned from practising as a midwife in the UK.

And widower Carl Hendrickson, whose wife Nittaya and son Chester both died at the unit in 2008, revealed he too had been left frustrated at the tardiness of the regulatory bodies involved.
Carl Hendrickson. 

He said: “Nothing has been done, and the trust simply use the excuse that the NMC are dealing with things.”

The Nursing and Midwifery Council has summoned two FGH midwives involved in the care of James Titcombe’s wife Hoa Titcombe, in 2008, to a misconduct hearing next week.

No date is yet set for a further three midwives seven years on from Joshua Titcombe’s death. This week NMC chief executive Jackie Smith issued an apology for the delay.