Warnings to Black Country hospital trusts over high stillbirth and newborn death rates

A report found for every 1,000 births at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs New Cross Hospital, there were 8.17 stillborn and newborn deaths.

At Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs City Hospital, there were 6.77 deaths per 1,000 births.

They were two of 21 hospital trusts to be given the warning, with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust topping the report with a rate of 9.54.

Dr Jonathan Odum, Medical Director at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said the reason for its high neonatal death rate was the 'disadvantaged' population in the city and that the unit takes complex cases from across the Black Country and beyond.

He added: "The reason for higher neonatal death rate in 2013 is that the RWT Neonatal Unit provides care for a socio-economically disadvantaged population in Wolverhampton, as well as the Black Country.

"As a neonatal intensive care unit, it receives complex extremely premature neonatal cases from the region and the SSBC (Staffordshire, Shropshire and Black Country) Newborn Network.

"These babies may be associated with a higher mortality.

"The Trust has conducted an in depth review of mortality rates and the Trust is currently augmenting this with an external review of the individual cases.

"From the in depth review, the Trust is reassured that the neonatal mortality rate is at the very least comparable to other national, regional and international datasets."

Mr Odum added the figures used were based on data from 2013 and the trust recorded a much lower death rate the following year.

Dr Roger Stedman, Medical Director at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, said the Black Country had a history of high rates of stillbirth, neonatal, perinatal and infant mortality.

He added: "Along with our CCG we have developed plans to try and address these issues, bearing in mind that the key issues remain fetal growth restriction and fetal anomalies.

"We have made progress this year with tackling rates of antenatal smoking, and continue to work to improve rates of early booking and then screening among pregnant mothers."

The report was published by a group of academics and charities called MBRRACE-UK (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK).

It looked at stillbirths and deaths of newborn babies in the first 28 days of life in trusts across the UK, with the trusts grouped according to size and the level of specialist neonatal care they offer.

Academies then calculated the death rate per 1,000 births, adjusting to account for characteristics of mothers using the hospitals, including ethnic group, age, levels of deprivation and rates of multiple births.