A baby boy died after his mother was turned away from the QEQM hospital in Margate while in labour due to the maternity unit being shut.

Instead Archie Batten's mum was advised to go to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, 38 miles away, but she started to give birth at home with a "poor quality of care by midwives" who went to assist, according to the family's lawyer.

The details emerged at a pre-inquest review at Archbishop's Palace in Maidstone today into the death of Archie, who died on September 1 last year shortly after birth.

During proceedings, the family's legal representative Nick Fairweather said Archie's mum should never have been sent away from the Margate unit, which had gone into 'divert' mode due to lack of beds so was not taking in any more patients.

He said: "At 2.35pm, when she was turned away from hospital she was told she could access services at any time if needed."

On her return at 4.50pm, he said she was told the hospital was in shut down.

"She should never have been sent away in the first place," he said.

He also criticised the quality of care by the four midwives that assisted Archie's mother at home.

"What they failed to do was so fundamental they were not providing a meaningful service at all," he said.

Assistant coroner Sonia Hayes said the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) investigation found she should not have been sent home in the first place.

"If she hadn't had been, the 'divert' wouldn't have affected her," she added.

It was also heard there was incomplete record-keeping during her labour.

Ms Hayes is considering whether to hold an Article 2 inquest, which is an enhanced hearing possibly with a jury, but will wait until further submissions of evidence before making a decision.

She also criticised the trust during the pre-inquest review for failing to submit documents in time, including Archie's medical notes and an up-to-date full disclosure document.

A full inquest is expected in the coming months.

Archie's inquest follows that of baby Harry Richford in January in which a coroner found his death was "wholly avoidable".

Harry was born at the QEQM on November 2, 2017, after a long labour and chaotic delivery by emergency caesarean, performed by an inexperienced locum.

When he was eventually delivered, it took medics almost half an hour to resuscitate him, leaving him so unwell he had to be transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

The coroner said had it not been for the failings of the hospital, he would have lived.

In a Regulation 28 report published in full on Monday, he set out 19 recommendations for improvements.

An independent inquiry is being held into maternity services at East Kent Hospitals after it emerged there has been as many as 15 preventable baby deaths.

Maternity experts, including midwives and obstetricians, have also been brought in to bring about "imminent improvements".

A trust spokesman said: "We know that we have not always provided the standard of care for every woman and baby that they expected and deserved, and wholeheartedly apologise to every one of those families we have let down.

"We are taking all necessary steps to provide safe care and we are treating the recently raised concerns about the safety of our service with the utmost seriousness and urgency.

"This includes making use of support from leading maternity experts, who have already identified further improvements that we will make.

"We recognise that the change needed in our maternity service has not taken place quickly enough, and we are doing everything we can to improve our culture so that we become an organisation which is constantly learning and improving."

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