Rory Badenoch, instructed by Slater & Gordon, acted for the parents of Abigail Fowler Miller at the inquest into her death in January 2022. Abigail’s mother was triaged via telephone by the Maternity Assessment Unit (“MAU”) at the hospital but was not invited to attend on two occasions, nor was an ambulance sent when it ought to have been on a third occasion. Abigail’s mother arrived in a taxi at hospital having suffered a cardiac arrest and an emergency c-section was performed in the hospital foyer. Unfortunately, Abigail died two days later as a consequence of severe hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy. Her mother survived following resuscitation and emergency surgery.
The Coroner concluded that had Abigail’s mother been invited to attend the MAU earlier, as she ought to have been, she would have been in hospital at the time of her clinical deterioration due to a uterine rupture at 1845 later that day. The care that would then have been given (namely supportive measures including IV fluid resuscitation and oxygen, and an emergency caesarean section prior to cardiac arrest occurring) would have “significantly prolonged” Abigail’s life (i.e. she would have survived).
Abigail’s parents recently gave an interview to BBC Newsnight calling for a national public inquiry into the standards of care across the UK. The interview can be accessed here.
Press coverage:
