- guardian.co.uk, Thursday June 2 2005 09.48 BST
New Cross hospital: the porters' contracts were terminated following a full disciplinary investigation
Two hospital porters at the centre of a case in which a dead baby was left in a box in a basement overnight, instead of being taken to the mortuary, have been sacked.
The pair, one of whom was involved in a similar incident three years ago, had been suspended and an investigation launched following the revelations at New Cross hospital, in Wolverhampton, in April this year.
The human resources director of the hospital, Wayne Cooper, said the porters' contracts were terminated following a full disciplinary investigation into alleged breaches of procedure for treating a deceased baby.
He said: "This decision has been taken in line with the trust's standard disciplinary procedures. The trust cannot comment any further on the detail of the hearing or the incident."
This latest case comes a year after a critical inquiry and report by the health watchdog the Healthcare Commission, which followed four serious incidents of neglect at New Cross, three involving dead babies.
The report condemned ongoing staff shortages and managers for focusing too much on performance targets.
Since that report, the trust has said it has come out " very well" in the commission's six-month review of the hospital. It has also said there is nothing wrong with its procedure regarding deceased babies, which is to take them to the mortuary immediately.
