A surgeon who operated on two women who died with herpes shortly after they gave birth has told an inquest he has never had the virus himself.

Kim Sampson and Samantha Mulcahy died with the virus after the surgeon at the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust carried out their Caesareans.

The surgeon - who cannot be named for legal reasons - insisted he always wore a mask during surgery, and scrubbed up.

He also told the hearing he had always worn double gloves.

Ms Sampson's baby boy was delivered at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, run by the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust, in May 2018.

In July, first-time mother Mrs Mulcahy died from an infection caused by the same virus at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, run by the same trust.

In March, the Mid Kent and Medway Coroner, Catherine Wood, accepted an application from the trust to give anonymity to the surgeon common to both cases.

'Not tested'

At an inquest examining the deaths of the two women, held in Maidstone, the surgeon was asked if there could have been a droplet infection at the time of the operations. The surgeon replied: "I'm wearing the mask and I'm not having the infection.

"Never had it. And the mask was there."

The surgeon was asked if the herpes infection the women developed could have come from a whitlow on his hand - a lesion typically on a finger or thumb caused by the herpes simplex virus.

The surgeon replied: "Never had a whitlow, I've never had herpes.

"I was wearing double gloves. I've never had a lesion, never had herpes before. I'm sure none of my gloves were broken."

He said he had not been invited by the East Kent Hospitals Trust to have a test for herpes at any stage following the deaths of the two women.

The inquest continues.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk.

Related Topics