Payout after baby's death at Worcestershire hospital
A Worcestershire couple has agreed an out of court settlement with a hospital trust after the death of their son.
Katie and Robert Page, from Droitwich, took legal action after their son Harry was stillborn at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in October 2009.
Mrs Page contacted the hospital several times complaining of a reduction in her baby's movements and waited hours to be seen once admitted, her solicitor said.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has apologised to the family.
A spokesman from law firm Irwin Mitchell, which represented the family, said Mrs Page was 10 days overdue and had been identified as a high-risk pregnancy.
She had contacted the hospital about her baby not moving but her induction of labour was postponed for more than two days because the hospital was unable to cope with its workload, the spokesman said.
Her husband finally drove her to the antenatal department at Worcester Royal Hospital on 8 October and demanded to be admitted.
But it took almost three hours for her to be admitted and four hours before a midwife checked her baby.
Following an earlier admission of liability, the trust has paid out an undisclosed five-figure compensation settlement, Irwin Mitchell said.
Mrs Page said: "It's been so difficult for Robert and I to rebuild our lives and, although we are now trying to move forward with the recent birth of our daughter, I don't think we will ever completely get over the loss of Harry and what happened."
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has admitted liability and offered their apologies to the family.
The trust said it had reviewed its admissions process.
"We now have a dedicated triage area with dedicated staff," a spokesman said.
"The paperwork that we use for recording telephone calls has been reviewed and changed so that there [is] better continuity of record keeping and advice given.
"Once women have called the service twice they are invited to come in for assessment."