Glenys Wood and Kathryn Duignan

Introduction

Glenys Wood and Kathryn Duignan are two midwives who have been struck off the nursing register after a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel found they left a bleeding pregnant woman waiting nearly 40 minutes to be assessed at King’s Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield — a delay an inquest later concluded contributed to the death of her baby . The woman, who was 41 weeks pregnant, arrived at the maternity unit in the early hours of September 13, 2023, with vaginal bleeding, and was left waiting 37 minutes even though there were no other patients in triage and none were expected . The panel also found both midwives failed to respond to requests for help from the patient’s family during the same night .

Background Information

The woman had been at the hospital earlier suspecting she was in labour but was sent home; a little after midnight she called with concerns about bleeding and was told to come back in . The telephone triage midwife who took the call did not update the system, but verbally told Wood and Duignan that the patient was bleeding and would be arriving at the unit . On the night in question, Duignan was in charge of the triage team as the only Band 7 maternity ward co-ordinator on duty, though the NMC report highlights that the maternity department “was understaffed generally” and that there should have been two .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Struck off by the nursing regulator. The panel found the midwives’ actions were a breach of the fundamental tenet of the profession after a 37-minute triage delay preceded a baby’s death.

The panel found Duignan was in the vicinity of the front desk when the patient arrived in a wheelchair and “plainly in pain”, but did not triage her because she expected another colleague to do it — an account the NMC did not accept, since that colleague was a birthing midwife in an understaffed unit, not a triage midwife . When that colleague later came to the ward and asked if the patient had been assessed, she triaged her herself at 1:42am, finding it “immediately apparent” that there was a medical emergency; in the meantime Wood had gone on a break . The panel also heard that Duignan wrote a sign saying “gone for a break, back in 30” and placed it on Wood, who was sitting at the triage desk in public view . The baby died of a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain, which was caused by placental abruption . An inquest in July 2024 found that neglect had contributed to his death, and the coroner ruled that if the mother had been seen on arrival she would have had a Caesarean by at least 1:25am rather than at 2:02am — and that with that earlier delivery, the baby “would on balance have survived” .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel further found that both Wood and Duignan failed to respond to requests for help from the family, determining they would have heard the patient and her family shouting based on the proximity of the room they were in to the midwives’ station . The NMC said the actions of the midwives “were a breach of the fundamental tenet of the profession” . Neither staff member engaged with the NMC proceedings, and in light of that the regulator said there was a “high risk” of the conduct being repeated . Both were struck off the register, meaning they can no longer work as midwives .

Current Status

Wood and Duignan are both struck off the NMC register following the panel’s determination . The findings trace directly to the September 2023 night at King’s Mill Hospital: an undiagnosed bleeding emergency left unassessed for 37 minutes, a triage desk left unstaffed by breaks taken in sequence, and a family’s calls for help going unanswered . The coroner’s findings and the July 2024 inquest conclusion that neglect contributed to the baby’s death formed the backdrop against which the regulator removed both midwives from the profession .

Impact on Their Career/Life

The striking-off ends both midwives’ careers, closing off the registered practice they had held through the maternity unit where the events occurred . Their non-engagement with the regulator meant the findings went unchallenged, and the public record now pairs the coroner’s conclusion — that a timely assessment would on balance have saved the baby — with the regulator’s conclusion that the two midwives responsible for his mother’s assessment failed their profession’s fundamental tenet .

Sources

• The Independent, “Midwives struck off after bleeding pregnant woman left waiting nearly 40 minutes and lost her baby,” October 14, 2026 — source