Bacchus Marsh nursing director cops 10 year ban for baby deaths cluster

The director of nursing at Bacchus Marsh hospital has been slapped with a ten year ban over her role in a cluster of baby deaths at the regional hospital.

Julia Meek has been banned from renewing her nursing registration for ten years.

The director of nursing who oversaw a cluster of preventable baby deaths at Bacchus Marsh hospital has been banned from renewing her registration for a decade.

It is likely that former Djerriwarrh Health Service director of nursing Julia Meek will never practise again, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard.

She had not worked for the past four years after surrendering her registration and was now 63, so the 10-year ban would effectively spell the end of her career, VCAT was told.

A “cluster” of avoidable baby deaths at the hospital in 2013 and 2014 were investigated in 2015, with a major report by Monash University’s Professor Euan Wallace revealing the health service had not met accreditation standards, the tribunal panel said.

The hospital is operated by DjjHS. It was alleged by the Nursing and Midwifery Board that Mrs Meek had “failed to take adequate steps to deliver effective systems and processes at DjHS”, including failing to ensure a midwife with vital foetal surveillance monitoring training and experience was rostered on in the birthing suite every shift. There was also “inadequate review of peri-natal deaths” on her watch, the panel said.

“We are comfortably satisfied, based on the material before us and the admissions made by Mrs Meek, that she … oversaw a service where there was inadequate education and training for nursing and midwifery staff.

“Mrs Meek failed to actively establish and ensure baseline competency and credentialing requirements for the midwifery workforce. She ought to have been aware of deficiencies in midwifery skills and the service. She failed to take adequate steps to ensure the deficiencies were identified and remedied,” it noted.

Bacchus Marsh Hospital. Picture: Nicole Garmston.

As director of nursing, Mrs Meek held a senior leadership role, with responsibility for ensuring the delivery of reliable, safe and high quality nursing care but “failed to actively establish and ensure baseline competency and credentialing requirements for the midwifery workforce … there was a lack of robust oversight with regard to the successful completion of foetal surveillance training,” it said.

“Mrs Meek ought to have been aware that there was a deficiency of midwifery skill in the use and interpretation of intrapartum foetal surveillance that resulted in this series of adverse outcomes. Mrs Meek failed to take adequate steps to ensure these deficiencies were identified and remedied,” the VCAT panel concluded

“Taking these circumstances into account, we find that it is appropriate to impose a period of disqualification of 10 years – effectively in excess of 14 years considering the period since Mrs Meek has practised – which is an adequate period to effect general deterrence. It sends a clear message that this conduct was unacceptable.”

Twelve babies in total have been found to have died in potentially avoidable circumstances at the Bacchus Marsh and Melton Regional Hospital.