‘Wrong baby’ security fears raised by inspection at top British hospital

Europe’s biggest hospital has been told to improve security or risk mothers leaving with the wrong baby. Some infants born at the Royal London Hospital had no name tags, a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said. It said this could have resulted in them going home with the wrong families or being given medication intended for another child. Another hospital run by the same trust in east London, Whipps Cross, has been heavily criticised for its treatment of patients.

We were most concerned about the standard of care around maternity and gynaecology services.

Professor Sir Mike Richards, chief inspector of hospitals at the CQC

Other patients nearing the end of their lives were left to suffer in pain. At the Royal London, inspectors also found there were not enough midwives in the delivery suite to provide safe cover for all patients. The inspectors, who visited the hospital in July, said they also observed some “intra-cultural issues and some bullying behaviour” between groups of midwives and between midwives and patients.

Staffing on maternity wards was sometimes inadequately covered - but most worrying of all was the lack of a safe and secure environment for new born babies.

Professor Sir Mike Richards, chief inspector of hospitals at the CQC

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