Newborn baby dies at Northern Beaches Hospital

A troubled NSW hospital has been hit with a fresh tragedy after a newborn baby died over the weekend.

Sydney’s troubled Northern Beaches Hospital has been hit with a fresh tragedy after a newborn baby died over the weekend.

The Daily Telegraph reports the baby died during childbirth on Saturday and that a ruptured placenta is believed to have contributed to the death.

A review into the circumstances of the death has now been launched.

“Northern Beaches Hospital extends its condolences to the family for their loss,” a spokesman for hospital operator Healthscope said.

“Out of respect for patient and family confidentiality, we will not be discussing an individual patient’s condition or treatment. All patient incidents are investigated in line with NSW Health Policy.”

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said, “My deepest condolences are with the parents and family of this baby following their heartbreaking loss. Healthscope have advised me that they are reviewing the circumstances of this case. NSW Health has asked the Chief Obstetrician to review the circumstances as well.”

Associate Professor Peter Thomas, chief medical officer and chief operating officer at Northern Beaches Hospital, told a NSW Budget Estimates hearing on Thursday afternoon that the mother had an emergency caesarean section and the boy was transferred to Royal North Shore Hospital.

“I’m limited in what I can say due to confidentiality,” he said.

Asked how long the mother had to wait for the emergency C-section, Prof Thomas said he was “not aware of the details of that case” and would take the question on notice.

“The provisional risk assessment has been done and hasn’t highlighted any deficiencies as far as I’m aware,” he said.

Sydney’s Northern Beaches Hospital. Picture: Brendan Read

The tragedy comes days after the parents of toddler Joe Massa went public about the 22-month-old’s death last September during what should have been a routine emergency department visit.

Joe’s death has prompted the state government to overhaul patient care reviews in cases where patients believe they’re not being treated correctly, with the introduction of “Joe’s Rule”.

The announcement came after Mr Park and NSW Premier Chris Minns met with Joe’s parents, Elouise and Danny Massa, on Wednesday afternoon.

Joe’s Rule will expand on the REACH (Recognise, Engage, Act, Call, Help) program, which was implemented following the 2013 death of Kyran Day.

Mrs Massa called it a “big win for Joe and every child in NSW”.

Joe was taken to the emergency department on the morning of September 14 after experiencing vomiting the previous night.

By the time they arrived at the hospital at 7.06am, Joe had a dangerously elevated heart rate and was pale, floppy and growing unresponsive.

Joe Massa died after a routine visit to NBH in September. Picture: Supplied

The boy was suffering significant hypovolemia, a condition that occurs when the body loses too much fluid — and that would typically be treated by IV fluid resuscitation — but was misdiagnosed as a case of gastro.

Crucially, the ED triage nurse documented that Joe was in triage category three, which indicates a patient requiring treatment within 30 minutes, rather than the “red zone” category two, defined as requiring treatment within 10 minutes due to an imminently life-threatening condition.

Mrs Massa said over the next three hours staff at the hospital failed to listen to her concerns, denied repeated requests for an IV drip, and ignored critical warning signs, including Joe’s skyrocketing heart rate, limpness, rash and loss of consciousness.

At 10.47am, Joe suffered a catastrophic cardiac arrest.

Joe was transferred to Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick where he died as a result of brain damage.

A Serious Adverse Event Review (SAER) later identified a number of serious failures in Joe’s case, including “failure to recognise and respond to a heart rate in the red zone particularly in the absence of fever”, “failure to respond to parental concern” and “failure to respond to clinician concern as per internal escalation processes”.

In a statement, Healthscope accepted there was an “underappreciation of the severity of Joe’s illness and a delay in recognising deterioration”.

Originally published as Newborn baby dies at Northern Beaches Hospital