Bereaved Scottish parents 'utterly devastated' to discover baby's heart scan sent via WhatsApp

NHS Borders has been reprimanded after a bereaved family discovered their baby’s heart scan was sent to a consultant via WhatsApp - rather than visiting the expectant mother in person.

The couple, who have asked not to be named, said they were “shocked, hurt and let down” after discovering the social media platform was used to communicate their unborn son’s heart monitor readings to a consultant, despite the senior obstetrician being just minutes away. Their son was born in August 2022 at 31 weeks’ gestation and died five days later.

An investigation by NHS Borders has since uncovered the use of WhatsApp rather than the consultant seeing the expectant mother in person, highlighting that concerns around the birth “warranted attendance from the obstetric consultant in person”.

A complaint was made to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has been upheld as an infringement of data protection law. 

The ICO found NHS Borders failed to keep personal data secure and have advised NHS Borders they should take a number of measures to consider the risks relating to personal data and to ensure data security.

“We have found this really shocking, ”said the mother, who is from the Scottish Borders. “We didn’t know anything about a consultant who should have been present until we read the report. It has been pretty devastating to find this out. 

“Aside from the fact they’re using WhatsApp anyway, which is definitely not the way medical information should be shared between professionals, I know from doing personal training sessions in this hospital previously how bad the phone signal and Wifi are. It’s unbelievable to think they were sending such vital information this way.”

The husband said: “You put your trust in the professionals and presume that the right people are in the right place at the right time. While the midwives were always helpful and concerned, more senior staff were less so.

“We had no idea the consultant, who should have been here, who was on the site and only minutes’ walk away, was being sent critical live data by WhatsApp, and that there was this internal battle going on in trying to get them to come and assess my wife in person.

“We are so let down by this ... this cannot be allowed to happen again to any other family.”

Sarah McWhirter, principal lawyer at Slater and Gordon in Scotland, which is representing the couple, said: “The loss of their son has of course been utterly devastating for our clients. But then to find out that information at such a critical point was being conveyed by WhatsApp, rather than an in-person assessment, has understandably been shocking.

“WhatsApp is absolutely not an appropriate means of communication between medical professionals in any circumstances, and is particularly unacceptable in the case of an unborn baby’s heartbeat being monitored. While nothing can change the reality for this family, we commend them for speaking out in the hope that this will not happen to anyone else.”

A NHS Borders spokesperson said: “We reiterate our sincere apologies to the family for the loss they have experienced and are dedicated to learning from this situation and making improvements to our systems and processes. This includes the development of an action plan in response to the recommendations recently received by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

“A significant adverse event review was carried out at the time, which was shared with the family and with Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). We can confirm that NHS Borders maternity services are not under review by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, but we continue to work pro-actively in partnership with them.

“We maintain a strong focus on safety in maternity services and have an active local safety programme to ensure learning is used to improve all aspects of how we provide our service.”