A FORMER midwife at a scandal-hit South Cumbria hospital has been struck off following a misconduct hearing.

The tribunal heard the actions of Marie Teresa Ratcliffe, who worked in the maternity unit at Furness General Hospital, Barrow, were found to have contributed to the deaths of two babies.

She did not attend the hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), in Stratford, London, which started last month.

Ms Ratcliffe accepted 68 allegations relating to the treatment of 14 patients during her time at the hospital between February 2004 and September 2013.

An NMC spokesperson: “An independent panel removed Marie Ratcliffe from the NMC register after it found her fitness to practise to be currently impaired.

"She is the first of a number of midwives from the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust being investigated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council to go to a conduct and competence hearing.

"The tragic events at the trust led to two independent reports and a significant review of midwifery regulation, and particularly the role of midwifery supervision.

"We are now seeking the urgent change to our legislation to enable us to deal with cases like this more quickly and to remove supervision from our remit and to give us direct control of regulatory decisions affecting midwives."

MORE TOP STORIES: An independent inquiry into the Barrow hospital, published in March, found a 'lethal' mix of failures at 'almost every level' including a dysfunctional maternity unit and a subsequent cover-up led to the unnecessary deaths of 11 babies and one mother between January 1, 2004, and June 30, 2013.