Maternity unit's care 'inadequate', coroner told

Standards at an expensive maternity hospital were called into question yesterday when a coroner began investigating the second case in three years of a mother dying there after a Caesarean section.

At a pre-inquest review, the Portland Hospital in London was accused of providing inadequate post-operative care to Tracey Sampson, who died after giving birth to her third son, George, on 5 April.

Mrs Sampson, 36, was taken to intensive care at the nearby St Mary's Hospital hours after the operation, but died the next day of "acute heart failure", which her family believes might have been preventable.

Her death came four months after the private hospital, which has been used by celebrities such as Elizabeth Hurley and Victoria Beckham, was criticised by a coroner for the poor quality of care provided to Laura Touche.

Mrs Touche, 31, died from a brain haemorrhage nine days after giving birth to twins by Caesarean section. An inquest jury said neglect contributed to the 1999 tragedy and the hospital paid a reported £750,000 in an out-of-court settlement to her family.

Mrs Sampson, a beauty therapist from Maida Vale, north-west London, failed to regain consciousness after being anaesthetised for her third Caesarean at the Portland.

At Westminster coroner's court, Philip Havers QC, representing the family, said it was the second such death at the hospital. "The average numbers of deaths following Caesarean sections would be much, much smaller than every three years," he said.

There was "real cause for concern" over post-operative care, he said. Mrs Sampson's condition became "very distressed" and she had serious breathing difficulties when tubes giving oxygen were taken from her airways. But it was one hour and 25 minutes before the tubes were reinstated, an "excessive period of time".

Staff did not receive test results indicatingcardiac function for more than an hour. The hospital took nearly an hour and a quarter to get Mrs Sampson to St Mary's, which was "wholly inadequate", he said.

Professor Sebastian Lucas, the pathologist who examined Mrs Sampson, said she died of cardiac failure with no known cause. "Some hearts fail after operations. It is called Sudden Adult Death Syndrome."

The court heard that in 1994 Mrs Sampson had been treated for ovarian cancer but that this was not related to her death.

Christina Lambert, representing the consultant obstetrician Tiong Teoh and the consultant anaesthetist Dr Kenneth Macleod, said: "There is not a shred of evidence that something may have gone wrong in this case." The staff's "prime concern" had been to save Mrs Sampson, not to check the accuracy of the clocks, she added.

A statement from the hospital extended sympathy to Mrs Sampson's family, but said: "We are confident no mistakes were made."

Dr Paul Knapman, the coroner, will decide in the next few days whether the inquest should be heard in front of a jury or before him alone.