May 2026: Thirlwall Inquiry report delayed to at least September 2026 · six-baby inquests relisted to 2027 · CCRC review active · Shoo Lee Panel: no medical evidence of deliberate harm.
Acute desaturation episodes were treated as part of the corroborative clinical picture supporting the prosecution's narrative of deliberate harm.
Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) is a recognised cause of acute, severe, refractory hypoxaemia in neonates and is independently associated with prematurity, perinatal asphyxia, sepsis, meconium aspiration and congenital diaphragmatic hernia. PPHN can present as sudden severe desaturation that does not respond to escalating ventilation or oxygen therapy, mimicking the trajectory attributed to deliberate harm in several of the indicted cases. Echocardiographic confirmation is required for definitive diagnosis but is operator-dependent and not always performed in real time on a busy unit.
PPHN is the textbook differential for sudden severe desaturation in a newborn that does not respond to standard escalation. Without echocardiographic confirmation at the moment of collapse, it is routinely under-diagnosed.
Desaturation episodes were treated as part of the prosecution's clinical-deterioration framework. PPHN as a specific differential was not foregrounded.
The Panel's case-by-case findings include cardiopulmonary-instability differentials including PPHN where supportive findings existed.