Death of baby Olivia-Rose at Blackpool Victoria Hospital means fresh questions over safety of services

Our reporting of problems at Blackpool Victoria Hospital continues

Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.

We are back at Blackpool Victoria Hospital for today’s edition, where the death of a newborn baby means more questions to answer for the trust that manages it.

Olivia-Rose’s mother, Nevaeh Wilson, 19, is now trying to raise £1,800 to open the Olivia Rose Bowtique, which would provide children’s clothes and other essentials through Better Minds Lancashire. If you want to contribute, you can do so here.

The Blackpool Lead has consistently held the Vic to account, revealing last month that a mother who bared her soul to a therapist turned out not to be qualified.

We reported on the unsolved murder of Valerie Kneale, who was found covered in blood on the stroke unit after being sexually assaulted.

And we revealed how police were also reportedly investigating possible corporate failings contributing to the death, ill-treatment or neglect of patients on the ward, where patients were secretly sedated by nurses - now behind bars - to keep them quiet.

More recently, The Blackpool Lead told how women and babies being operated on at one of the Vic’s two maternity theatres have been at risk of death by “electrocution and catastrophic equipment failure”. And that’s just a small amount of the coverage that wouldn’t exist without our reporting.

Blackpool briefing

🗣️ A busy Blackpool counselling centre which was forced to shut last year after being wrecked by massive storm is set to reopen. Counselling In The Community (CITC) has been awarded £40,000 to complete urgent repair works at its building on Waterloo Road, in South Shore. And to protect the charity’s future, further money – up to £100,000 – has been earmarked to allow for the purchase of the premises. The funding has come from the government’s Pride of Place Impact Fund, which is allocating a share of £1.5m to the UK’s more deprived communities. The charity was forced to close its hub in late October after storms caused extensive damage to the building, leaving more than 100 people at risk of no access to their therapy sessions. Now it is set to reopen again before summer, thanks to vital money plugging a funding gap for repairs. The charity had already invested in creating a new sensory room at the centre and is now using its repairs work to improve accessibility in the building and add two extra counselling suites.

🏗️ The landscape of Blackpool is continuing to change as a cordoned off area off area of Charles Street and Cookson Street is levelled off to make way for the town’s landmark £65 million Multiversity campus. Heavy machinery such as diggers and a steamroller were on the site on Tuesday (March 10), as contractors flatten the land which had previously been houses. White railings and fencing currently border the site, which is bordered by Cookson Street (East side) Milbourne Street (North side) George Street (West side) and Charles Street (South side). Traffic lights are currently in place at the junction of George Street and Cookson Street.

🛩️ New developments at Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone could bring more than 150 jobs to the Fylde coast as a new £18.5m road nears completion. A major milestone is approaching with the completion of Vickers Way, a new access road due to open this spring. This development, which follows the completion of remodelling works on Common Edge Road last month, will unlock prime development land for businesses – with enquiries from firms already coming in which could bring over 150 jobs to the site. Blackpool Council’s Executive is being recommended to continue its commitment to spending £54m to expand the Enterprise Zone, at its next meeting on March 16. Once fully open the new route will improve access and traffic flow to the Enterprise Zone and surrounding areas. These improvements are also part of a wider programme of infrastructure investment designed to free up the prime development land, allowing businesses to grow and creating valuable job opportunities for local residents. This would further add to the economic impact the Enterprise Zone is already delivering, with 2,700 jobs created so far across the development.

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Death of baby Olivia-Rose at Blackpool Victoria Hospital means fresh questions over safety of services

Blackpool Victoria Hospital

By Michael Holmes

A newborn’s death has sparked fresh questions about Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s maternity services.

An internal investigation opened after Olivia-Rose Smith was found lifeless at her Wesham home has highlighted possible safeguarding issues.

There was no formal policy setting out what midwives should do if they cannot gain access to homes during postnatal visits, papers seen by The Blackpool Lead suggest.

They also say maternity guidelines lacked a clear escalation pathway telling staff who to contact, when and how quickly if concerns arise about a mother or baby during pregnancy or after birth.

Safer-sleep audits are now to be carried out to identify any further learning, the report adds.

The findings do not suggest any wrongdoing by the 17-day-old’s parents, and it is not known if any of the gaps are relevant to Olivia-Rose’s death or were just uncovered during the probe.