Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2020

Brandon-Robert Collins-Hayward

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2021-0088, written 1 Dec 2020. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report1 Dec 2020
Reference2021-0088
DeceasedBrandon-Robert Collins-Hayward
CoronerRachael Griffin
Coroner areaDorset
CategoryHospital Death (Clinical Procedures and medical management) related deaths · Child Death (from 2015)
Sourcejudiciary.uk record · original PDF
Responses published2

The report

Text extracted from the PDF text layer. Reproduced verbatim, including the scan's own layout.

REGULATION 28:  REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS (1) 

NOTE: This form is to be used after an inquest. 

REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS 

THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

, The Chair of the Royal College of 

Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 10-18 Union Street, London Bridge, 
London, SE1 1SZ 

, The Chair of the Royal College of Paediatrics and 

Child Health, 5-11 Theobalds Rd, Holborn, London WC1X 8SH 

, The Chair of the National Institute of Clinical 

Excellence, 10 Spring Gardens, London, SW1A 2BU 

1  CORONER 

I am Rachael Clare Griffin, Senior Coroner, for the Coroner Area of Dorset 

2  CORONER’S LEGAL POWERS 

I make this report under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice 
Act 2009 and regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 
2013. 

3 

INVESTIGATION and INQUEST 

On  18th  June  2019  I  commenced  an  investigation  into  the  death  of  Brandon-
Robert William Collins-Hayward.  

The  investigation  concluded  at  the  end  of  the  inquest  on  the  19th  November 
2020.  

The medical cause of death was: 

1a Escherichia coli sepsis 

The conclusion of the inquest was Natural Causes. 

4  CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH 

The  deceased  was  born  on  the  29th  May  2019  following  a  normal  vaginal 
delivery  and  presented  as  a  healthy  baby  boy.  When  he  was  3  days  old,  he 
started  to  reduce  his  milk  intake,  developed  a  shiver  of  his  lip  and  started  to 
make grumbling noises. Other than that, he displayed no other symptoms until 
10.30am on the 7th June 2019 when he was noted to be yellow in colour, had a 
yellow  flemish  discharge  in  his  nappy  and  started  to  struggle  breathing.  The 
emergency  services  were  called  and  during  that  call  he  stopped  breathing. 
Cardio  Pulmonary  Resuscitation  was  commenced  and  he  was  taken  to  Poole 
Hospital,  Poole.  On  arrival  he  was  in  a  peri-arrest  condition  and  despite 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 continued  resuscitation  attempts  and  active  treatment  his  condition  did  not 
improve, and he died later that day. Of note his mother was admitted to Poole 
Hospital on the evening of the 6th June 2019 with moderate to severe infection 
and deemed to be a high risk of developing sepsis. 

5  CORONER’S CONCERNS 

During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to 
concern. In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action 
is taken. In the circumstances it is my statutory duty to report to you. 
The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows:   

1.  During the inquest evidence was heard that: 

i. 

ii. 

iii. 

iv. 

v. 

The deceased was assessed at his home address on the 3rd June 
by the midwifery team at aged 5 days. At this assessment there 
was  a  visual  check  done  but  no  basic  observation  assessments 
taken, such as temperature, heart rate and respiration rate, from 
the deceased or his mother to confirm their wellbeing 

Evidence  was  given  at  the  Inquest  that  there  is  no  guidance 
nationally  for  such  checks  to  be  undertaken  but  following  a 
review by University Hospital Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (UHD) 
who provided the postnatal care to mother and baby, they have 
reviewed their local policy to ensure these observations are taken 
in the early days following birth to ensure their wellbeing.  

The local policy in place at UHD, titled “Postnatal Care Guideline”, 
now provides guidance that at each visit up to day 10 post birth, 
a  full  set  of  baby  and  maternal  observations  are  to  be  taken. 
Evidence  was  given  at  the  Inquest  that  there  would  be  great 
benefit  in  such  guidance  being  provided  nationally  to  ensure 
prompt medical care is provided and to prevent future deaths. 

In  addition  evidence  was  given  during  the  Inquest  that  the 
deceased’s Mother was admitted to hospital on the 6th June 2019, 
with  moderate  to  severe  infection  and  was  noted  to  be  a  high 
risk of developing sepsis. Following this admission, the deceased 
was  not  medically  assessed  for  possible  infection  prior  to  his 
cardiac arrest the following morning.  

Evidence  was  given  at  the  Inquest  that  there  is  no  guidance 
nationally  for babies to be  medically  assessed  when a mother is 
admitted to hospital. Following the review by UHD, they have put 
in  place  a  local  policy  titled  “Caring  for  Newly  Delivered  Women 
and  their  babies  outside  the  Maternity  Unit”  which  provides 
guidance  to  be  applied  when  a  women  presents  at  the  hospital 
within 28 days following the birth. 

vi. 

This advises that when a mother is admitted to a UHD Hospital, 
the  baby  should  be  medically  reviewed  either  in  hospital,  or  at 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 home by the midwifery team, to ensure the medical wellbeing of 
the baby. Evidence was given at the Inquest that there would be 
great  benefit  in  such  guidance  being  provided  nationally  to 
ensure  prompt  medical  care  is  provided  and  to  prevent  future 
deaths. 

2.  I have concerns with regard to the following: 

i. 

ii. 

I  am  concerned  that  due  to  the  lack  of  national  guidance 
regarding  close  monitoring  of  mothers  and  babies  following 
discharge  after  birth,  and  the  fact  that  there  is  no  national 
guidance for a medical assessment of a baby when the mother is 
admitted to hospital with potential sepsis, there could be a death 
in the future. 

I  would  therefore  request  there  is  a  review  of  the  guidance  in 
place for post-natal care following the discharge from hospital in 
the  immediate  time  following  the  birth,  namely  10  days  and  a 
review  of  the  national  guidance  in  place  when  a  mother  is 
admitted  to  hospital  within  28  days  of  birth,  especially  when 
diagnosed with infection and at high risk of developing sepsis. 

6  ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN 

In  my  opinion  urgent  action  should  be  taken  to  prevent  future  deaths  and  I 
believe you and/or your organisation have the power to take such action.    

7  YOUR RESPONSE 

You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this 
report, 26th January 2021. I, the coroner, may extend the period. 

Your  response  must  contain  details  of  action  taken  or  proposed  to  be  taken, 
setting out the timetable for action. Otherwise you must explain why no action 
is proposed. 

8  COPIES and PUBLICATION 

I  have  sent  a  copy  of  my  report  to  the  Chief  Coroner  and  to  the  following 
Interested Persons: 

(1) The family of Brandon-Robert 
(2) University Hospital Dorset NHS Foundation Trust 

I have also sent a copy of my report to the following people who I believe have 
a sufficient interest in the contents of it: 

(1) Pan Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I am also under a duty to send the Chief Coroner a copy of your response.  

The  Chief  Coroner  may  publish  either  or  both  in  a  complete  or  redacted  or 
summary  form.  He  may  send  a  copy  of  this  report  to  any  person  who  he 
believes may find it useful or of interest. You may make representations to me, 
the coroner, at the time of your response, about the release or the publication 
of your response by the Chief Coroner. 

9  Dated 

Signed 

1st December 2020                                       

Rachael C Griffin 

4

Responses

2 responses published against this report on judiciary.uk. A response is a body's written reply to the coroner's concerns; publication is at the discretion of the Chief Coroner's office, so an absent response does not mean nobody replied.

Response from National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (PDF)
2nd Floor 
2 Redman Place 
London 
E20 1JQ 
United Kingdom 

10 April 2024 

Rachael C Griffin  
Senior Coroner  
The coroner’s office for the county of Dorset   
Bournemouth Town Hall  
Bournemouth  
BH2 6DY  

Dear Ms Griffin,    

I write in reference to your correspondence, dated 1 December 2020, and our initial 
response given on 26 January 2021 regarding the very sad death of Brandon-Robert William 
Collins-Hayward. Our thoughts continue to be with his family. 

The concerns raised in your report surrounding the circumstances of Brandon-Robert’s 
death were, whether there is sufficient guidance relating to the monitoring of mothers and 
babies in the immediate time following discharge from hospital after birth, and the 
assessment of babies when the mother is admitted to hospital within 28 days of birth 
(especially when diagnosed with infection and at high risk of developing sepsis). 

At the time of our earlier response, we mentioned that our guidance in this area was being 
updated. Since this process has been completed, we can now confirm that our guidance for 
postnatal care (NG194) includes a recommendation addressing the issue of assessment of 
the baby where the mother has symptoms or signs of sepsis (shown here in bold): 

1.2.8 For guidance on care for women with symptoms or signs of sepsis, see the NICE 
guideline on sepsis. If the woman has confirmed or suspected puerperal sepsis, assess 
the baby for symptoms or signs of infection. 

The scope of our updated guidance for Neonatal infection: antibiotics for prevention and 
treatment (NG195) also covers late neonatal infection  

 (>72 hours to 28 days).  

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) have also produced 
guidance on the topic of bacterial sepsis following pregnancy.  The purpose of this guideline 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 is to provide guidance on the management of sepsis in the mother and in the baby during 
the puerperium (i.e. sepsis developing after birth until 6 weeks postnatally).  

I hope that this update is helpful.  

Yours sincerely, 

Chief Executive     

                                                                                                                                 Page | 2
Response from S (PDF)
2"4 Floor

National Institute for 2 Redmond Pl
N | C Health and Care Excellence ° on tondon
E20 1JQ

United Kingdom

Rachael C Griffin

Senior Coroner

The Coroner's Office for the County of Dorset
Bournemouth Town Hall

Bournemouth, BH2 6BDY

26 January 2021

Your ref:
Our ref:

Dear Ms Griffin,

| write in response to your correspondence, dated 1 December 2020, regarding the
very sad death of Brandon-Robert William Collins-Hayward. Our thoughts are with
his family.

We have considered the circumstances surrounding Brandon-Robert’s death, and
the concerns raised in your report — namely, whether there is sufficient guidance
relating to the monitoring of mothers and babies in the immediate time following
discharge from hospital after birth, and the assessment of babies when the mother is
admitted to hospital within 28 days of birth (especially when diagnosed with infection
and at high risk of developing sepsis).

We consider that there are 2 NICE guidelines of relevance.

NICE has published a clinical guideline on postnatal care up to 8 weeks after birth
(CG37). This guideline covers the routine postnatal care that women and their
babies should receive for 6-8 weeks after the birth. It includes advice given on
breastfeeding, and the management of common and serious health problems in
women and their babies after the birth. This guideline is currently in the process of

being updated.

NICE also has a guideline on neonatal infection: antibiotics for prevention and
treatment (CG149). This guideline covers preventing infection within 72 hours of birth

in healthy babies, treating pregnant women whose baby is at risk, and caring for
babies who have a suspected or confirmed infection. This guideline is also currently
in the process of being updated, and the guideline's scope has been extended to
cover late neonatal infection (>72 hours to 28 days).

(SSS
N | C E www.nice.org.uk | nice@nice.org.uk

Therefore, the concerns you have raised following Brandon-Robert's tragic death will
be further considered by the guideline developers as part of this ongoing work. We
expect to publish both updated guidelines later this year. The NICE website will be
updated with further developments.

Yours sincerely,

Professor
Chief Executive

Page | 2

Royal College of
RC By
G P General Practitioners

Dr
Joint Honorary Secretary

Mrs Rachael Clare Griffin
HM Senior Coroner

For the Coroner f Dor:
Sent by email to:

Dear Mrs Griffin,

9 March 2021

Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths - touching on the death of Brandon-Robert
William Collins-Hayward

Thank you for your letter of 23 February 2021. | am responding on behalf of the Royal College
of General Practitioners as Joint Honorary Secretary to Council. Firstly, can | convey our
condolences to the family and friends of baby Brandon-Robert William Collins-Hayward. | was
saddened to read of Brandon's passing.

The report's recommendations for better national guidance regarding the monitoring of mothers
and babies following discharge after birth, and that babies are medically assessed when a mother
is admitted to hospital, seem sensible but the Royal College of Midwives, the Institute of Health
Visitors and the Royal Colleges of Emergency medicine and of Physicians may be in a better
position to commend on these. General practitioners (GPs) usually undertake the postnatal check
for mothers and babies slightly later at 6-8 weeks. Of course, patients can contact their GP
earlier if they have any concerns but in terms of routine checks, earlier checks than 6-8 weeks
tend to be undertaken by midwives and health visitors.

| trust that this reply is helpful and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
me.

Yours sincerely,
Cf ?>

Dr

Joint Honorary Secretary of Council
Royal College of General Practitioners

Royal College of General Practitioners
30 Euston Square, London, NW1 2FB

Tel: 020 3188 7400 | info@rcgp.org.uk | regp.org.uk
Patron: HRH The Duke of Edinburgh | Registered Charity Number 223106

Promoting - Supporting - Influencing

Coroner’s Support Officer

The Coroner's Office for the County of Dorset
Bournemouth Town Hall

Bournemouth

BH2 6DY

29 January 2021

Re: Regulation 28 report into the death of baby Brandon-Robert William Collins-Hayward.

Thank you for your letter dated the 19'" January outlining a request from H.M Coroner Mrs R.C.
Griffin, with reference to a Section 28- to prevent further death touching on the death of Brandon-
Robert William Collins-Hayward.

The RCM was saddened to read about the tragic death of baby Brandon. We note that the direction
of the Section 28 to us was undertaken in good faith by EEE Vice President RCOG, however
the RCM is a membership organisation and trade union, we have no jurisdiction over the education,
employment or registration of maternity staff. The remit for the development and implementation
of any new NHS guidance would sit with NHS Improvement.

The RCM hopes that this signposting will support the Coroners actions going forward. Please do not
hesitate to make contact if the RCM can be of any further assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Dr
Executive Director for Services to Members

The Royal College of Midwives T: 0300 303 0444 Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 5 —

10-18 Union Street F: +44 20 7312 3536 E92 disability

London E: info@rem.org.uk ES confident
COMMITTED

SE1 18Z W: www.rem.org.uk

*stonewa

Chief executive: [i President:
Patron: HRH The Princess Royal. The Royal College of Midwives: A company limited by guarantee. Registered No, 00030157,

nV

Institute of
Health Visiting
Excellence in Practice
Institute of Health Visiting
c/o Royal Society for Public Health,
59 Mansell St, E1 8AN
27" January 2021

Rachael Clare Griffin

HM Senior Coroner
for the Coroner Area of Dorset

Dear Ms Griffin,
Re: Regulation 28 report into the death of baby Brandon-Robert William Collins-Hayward

Thank you for your email dated 19" January 2021 requesting a response to your inquest findings. Your attached
Regulation 28 Report contains details of the sad death of baby Brandon-Robert William Collins-Hayward in June
2019, when he was 9 days old, with the medical cause of death recorded as Escherichia coli sepsis.

In England, the midwife will be responsible for the care of the mother and infant in the immediate post-natal
period. The midwife would normally discharge the mother and baby dyad from their caseload between the 10"
and 14" day following the birth. At this point, the care of the dyad would be transferred to the health visiting
service, although midwifery care can be extended up to 28 days after the birth if the baby or mother is unwell or
has additional needs which require support from the midwifery team.

As Brandon-Robert William Collins-Hayward sadly died 9 days after his birth, and he became unwell at home, his
community care would fall within the remit of the midwifery service and GP; at this point his care would not
have transferred to the health visiting service.

However what you ask for is for national learning from this sad case. NICE produce national guidance used by all
the relevant professionals. ‘Normal Postnatal Care’ covers the postnatal period for mother and baby up until 8
weeks post partum. We note that you have already written to NICE. Whilst there is a time lag with their process
this would seem the most efficient way of ultimately getting the messaging out to all the relevant professionals
who will base their own guidance on that produced by NICE. There is also national guidance produced by Public
Health England on identifying sepsis in babies which health visitors will use to inform their practice — you can
find details here if you haven’t already been alerted to it:

https://assets. publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/648381/Se
psis_guidance_for_health_professionals_and_school_nurses.pdf

Paediatricians are the professional group with the greatest expertise in the care of the newborn, again | note
you have already written to their Royal College. However it will be GPs and midwives in the community who
may make most use from guidance regarding observing the baby’s health when admitting a mother with
suspected sepsis before the baby is 10-14 days old and I note that the RCOG have advised that you also writing
to their colleges.

We share your ambition that any learning from this case should be used to prevent future deaths due to sepsis
and appreciate you alerting us. Sepsis is a life-threatening condition in young babies which is difficult to spot and
can lead to a rapid deterioration in the baby’s condition requiring urgent medical treatment.

We do hope that writing to NICE will ultimately deliver the national change you require, alongside alerting the
Royal Colleges of Paediatrics, Midwifery and General Practice - the latter two may have their own guidance on
managing sepsis in the mother (something that we don’t have) which can be adjusted immediately for future
care also of the infant.

If you require any further information, do not hesitate to contact us,

Kind regards

Dr fF CBE Executive Director

@ 5-11 Theobalds Road
London
WC1X 8SH

Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health = a 7092 om

Leading the way in Children’s Health

www. repch.ac.uk

Monday, 01 February 2021

Dear Coroner Rachel Clare Griffin
Re: Investigation into the death of Brandon-Robert William Collins-Hayward
Regulation 28 — Action to Prevent Future Deaths

| have carefully read your report regarding the tragic and untimely death of | Brandon-Robert
William Collins-Hayward and would like to first express my sincere condolences to his family. We
have been provided with limited details regarding the circumstances of his death and appreciate
that many of the details covered in the inquest were omitted for brevity.

| have discussed the findings of the investigation with senior colleagues within the RCPCH. From
your report we have specifically noted:

© On Day 3 of life following a normal vaginal delivery, he started to make grumbling noises,
developed a shiver and reduced his milk intake.

© On Day 5 of life, he was assessed at home by the midwifery team when a visual check, but
no basic observations were performed.

© On Day 8 of life, his mother was admitted to hospital with moderate to severe infection and
at high risk of developing sepsis, but he was not referred for medical assessment for
possible infection.

@ On Day 9 of life, he was yellow in colour, had a yellow discharge in his nappy and started to
struggle breathing. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was commenced, and he arrived at
hospital in a peri-arrest condition and received active treatment with continued
resuscitation attempts.

It would seem from the report that Brandon-Robert developed overwhelming sepsis in a short
period of time. On a clinical level, with the information provided, it seems difficult to directly link
the findings on Day 3 and Day 5 of life with the tragic outcomes of this case. In infants under one
month of age with sepsis, there could only be hours from the onset of abnormal observations to
collapse. Occasionally there are cases of more slowly evolving infection, but with gram negative
organisms such as Escherichia Coli, disease progression can be alarmingly fast.

From the information provided, it appears that the potential time for intervention may have been
around the hospital admission of Brandon-Robert’s mother. However, the cause of sepsis in
Brandon-Robert’s mother that required her admission on the 6" June 2019 is not clear in the
report we received, and it does not state whether the same causative organism was involved in
both cases. Post-partum infection is not uncommon, and Escherichia Coli is one of many potential

Page | of 5

causes. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ guideline 64b' only recommends
treatment for the newborn if either Group A Streptococcus, Group B Streptococcus, some forms of
Staphylococci, or Neisseria Meningitides are identified in the mother.

Details were provided on the response from the hospital Trust following this case and | recognise
changes have been made to local policies and procedures to ensure observations of babies are
taken up to Day 10 following birth, and babies of mothers admitted to hospital within 28 days of
birth are medically reviewed either in hospital or at home by the midwifery team.

You have asked the RCPCH, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and National
Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) to review current national guidance in place for post-natal
care following discharge from hospital after birth. It is advised that national guidance should be in
place to perform observations on babies at each review within the first 10 days of life and medical
assessment of a baby should be required when the mother is admitted to hospital with potential
sepsis within 28 days of birth.

National guidance recommendations

Medical Royal Colleges are membership-based professional bodies, which set the standards for
training of specialist doctors in some or all parts of the UK and contribute to the further
development of professional medical practice. As such, the RCPCH is unable to comment on the
specifics of the case relating to the practice of other healthcare professions and specialties beyond
paediatrics.

Alongside setting standards for paediatric doctors, RCPCH and affiliated specialty groups provide
expert clinical input to the development of service and clinical standards. In England the most
widely recognised national guidelines and standards are developed by NICE which has a rigorous
and systematic process for topic selection, identifying evidence, evidence synthesis, development,
consultation, and final production. Standards are developed in collaboration with expert clinical
groups and stakeholders, including Medical Royal Colleges.

The RCOG guideline 64b on bacterial sepsis following pregnancy was last updated in 2012. The
NICE clinical guideline CG37? was last updated in February 2015 and covers the routine postnatal
care women and their babies should receive for 6-8 weeks after birth. The RCPCH provided formal
support for NICE quality standard QS37? that was last updated in June 2015, which describes high-
quality care in priority areas for the routine postnatal care of women and their babies. We support
your recommendation to review these national guidelines and advise this includes:
e a review of the current list of organisms found in mothers that should lead to mandatory
treatment of the infant.
© a review of current guidance on the type, frequency and formality of observational recording
in new mother baby pairs.
¢ a review of potential trigger points for referral of newborns to other clinical teams.

Of note, there may be significant national resource implications to completing a full set of
neonatal and maternal observations on each postnatal visit. This would add around 10 minutes to
each postnatal consultation for the 600,000 or so deliveries per year in England.

' https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/guidelines/gtg64b/
? https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg37
3 https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs37

Page 2 of 5

We would ask that both RCOG and NICE review and update their national guidance to include
these considerations. The RCPCH would be pleased to contribute to this work and provide support
where appropriate.

NHS bodies and individual clinical departments are also expected to ensure that their operational
activities comply with NICE and RCOG guidelines. We would emphasise that there should be in
place in all NHS organisations clear systems and processes for clinical governance that monitor and
audit practice and outcomes. These arrangements should also ensure that clinicians of all
professions practice under the latest national guidance.

RCPCH support for healthcare professionals

| am pleased to set out below additional work that has been undertaken to develop guidance in
the relevant areas where RCPCH can make a difference. This includes advocating for adequate
training of all healthcare professionals reviewing children and supporting the development of
resources to provide appropriate clinical decision support for healthcare professionals.

In 2014, the RCPCH, British Association for Child & Adolescent Public Health and National
Children’s Bureau released a joint report titled ‘Why Children Die”. It examines some of the
possible reasons for the relatively high number of avoidable baby and child deaths in the UK and
provided recommendations for remedial action, which included all frontline health professionals
involved in the acute assessment of children and young people should complete relevant
professional development so they are confident and competent to recognise a sick child.

RCPCH resources to support clinical decision

The physiology of infants and their response to sepsis is particularly difficult to identify and a
different approach from adults is required. In 2020, the RCPCH supported a complete revision and
update of ‘Spotting the Sick Child’>, an interactive tool to support all health professionals in the
assessment and recognition of the seriously ill child. The RCPCH also produced free to access
paediatric sepsis podcasts® designed as educational resources for all health and social care
professionals exploring what sepsis is, and the complexities of recognising it.

If basic observations were performed on review of an infant outside the hospital setting within the
first 10 days of life, Paediatric Early Warning Systems (PEWS) may help to identify signs outside of
normal parameters and raise the level of concern. PEWS are generated by combining the scores
from a selection of routine observations such as children’s heart rate, respiratory rate, work of
breathing, skin perfusion, conscious level etc.

The RCPCH is currently supporting the NHS System-wide Paediatric Observations Tracking
Programme?’ (SPOT) led by NHS England, which aims to deliver a consistent PEWS across England
in both hospital and community settings. It is hoped that community use of PEWS established by
NHS SPOT would provide healthcare professionals with the ability to track observations over time,

4 https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/why-children-die-research-recommendations#key-messages
> https://spottingthesickchild.com/
° https://www.repch.ac.uk/resources/paediatric-sepsis-podcasts
7 https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/paediatric-early-warning-system-pewsystem-developing-
standardised-tool-england#how-you-can-get-involved

Page 3 of 5

such as in Brandon-Robert on days 3, 5 & 8 of life, so that subtle trends or significant changes can
be more easily detectable and lead to early referral and treatment.

RCPCH support for parents and carers

It is also important that safety netting interventions are provided to all parents and carers
following discharge from hospital care after birth. In 2020, the RCPCH produced a set of posters
for families living in the UK about when and how to get medical help for their child. A specific
poster was created for parents/carers of babies less than 3 months old® with advice on what to do
if their baby is unwell and the signs and symptoms to recognise when urgent medical help is
required.

The poster aims to provide timely and accurate advice for parents and families and to empower
families to seek help if their baby does not improve. They outline the different levels of concern
and the appropriate urgency of medical review in a red, amber, green traffic light format. All
healthcare professionals are encouraged to use this guidance and familiarise themselves with the
signs highlighted in the red and amber categories. Disinterest in feeding and shivering are both
symptoms that it advises for medical review within 24 hours.

The RCPCH has also raised concerns on the redeployment of health visitors during the COVID-19
pandemic’, and published a recent Insight article’? on the important role of health visitors in
supporting families who have new babies in the community. We will continue to advocate for the
provision of adequate resources in child health and support the wider workforce by providing
open access guidance on identifying the acutely unwell child in the community.

I trust this provides you with the reassurance that RCPCH is working hard to support the high-
quality safe care of babies in the immediate days following birth across a range of areas where we
can make a difference. We welcome opportunities to work collaboratively with other
organisations and professional bodies and would support the recommendations for a review of
current NICE and RCOG guidelines to minimise the likelihood of recurrence of what Brandon-
Robert William Collins-Hayward’s family has faced.

Thank you for raising this important case and reminding us of the importance of this work.

Yours sincerely

o

Vice President for Health Policy
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

On behalf of

8 https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/advice-parents-young-people-during-coronavirus-posters
° https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/news/redeployment-health-visitors-has-left-vulnerable-
children-risk

10 https://medium.com/repch-insight/what-does-a-health-visitor-do-3a75ac05cOfe

Page 4 of 5

Chair of the Board of Trustees
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

Charity in England and Wales: 1057744 Registered charity in Scotland SCO38299
PATRON HRH The Princess Royal

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