OUR coverage this week of the inquest into the death of mother-ofthree Joanne Hatton has made heartbreaking and disturbing reading.

Joanne went into Darlington Memorial Hospital nearly three years ago to give birth to twins and died due to a catalogue of errors by medical staff.

And the question on the lips of many of our readers today will be: How could it happen?

How could there be a two-hour delay before Mrs Hatton received the blood transfusion a senior doctor had ordered after she lost two litres of blood during her Caesarean section?

How could there be such a catastrophic failure in basic communication and shambolic procedures?

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust has issued an apology to Joanne’s family and vowed that lessons have been learnt.

We hope they have been, because public confidence in Darlington Memorial Hospital has been seriously undermined by the avoidable tragedy which unfolded around Joanne and her family.

Mistakes happen in all walks of life and there are particular pressures in the medical professions because errors can cost lives.

But what happened at Darlington Memorial Hospital was more than just a mistake – it was negligence which cost a mother her life.

With the strong support of family and friends, Joanne’s widower, Julian, is doing a great job in raising twins Ben and Miles, and their six-year-old sister Amelia.

Our thoughts are with them.