Maternity scandal families 'reassured' by police

Sarah and Jack Hawkins lost their baby daughter in 2016

Families involved in the biggest independent inquiry into NHS maternity services say they are "reassured" by the police's handling of a security breach.

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS trust is at the centre of the public inquiry while police continue a corporate manslaughter investigation over its maternity care.

On Saturday, a family day was held in Carrington to provide an update on the review, where there was a round of applause for the police.

Families praised the police's openness and transparency after a member of staff who was part of the investigation, named Operation Perth, was suspended following a security breach.

Nottinghamshire Police's deputy chief constable Rob Griffin said the force had "acted swiftly" after finding information had been changed or deleted from its systems.

He said auditing had uncovered the issue and the person thought to be responsible.

The force has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the Information Commissioner's Office over the security breach.

Michelle Welsh MP says the baby loss debate will be "hugely significant"

About 2,500 cases of neonatal deaths, stillbirths and harm to mothers and babies being examined by independent midwife Donna Ockenden, who was present on Saturday, as part of the inquiry.

Michelle Welsh, MP for Sherwood Forest, said she had secured a debate on 13 October about baby loss in the House of Commons - the first of its kind for 30 years.

Ms Welsh, who became an MP after she was affected by poor maternity services, said: "Everything I'm doing in Parliament is to improve maternity services for every woman and every baby."

Dr Hawkins said other areas of the country need their own full independent review into maternity services

Dr Jack Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016 following maternity failings at Nottingham City Hospital, said: "One of the things that the police have always worked so hard on with families is to earn our trust.

"We understand that they were horrified that they had to tell us this has happened.

"That in its own right, that they were concerned that it would break the trust with families, is huge for us.

"We feel really reassured that they found a problem, dealt with it, and are looking into it further."

Simon Cure, adviser to Operation Perth, answered questions from the families on Saturday.

He said he had "a relatively good idea already of the motivation" behind the information being deleted or altered, but added: "That is not certain and I'm not going to comment on that until the investigation is done."

When asked for a timeframe on the investigation, he said it would be "months" rather than weeks or years.

Sarah Sissons said the police's openness and transparency had been "refreshing" for her and the other families

The families in attendance again called for a public inquiry to investigate failings nationally.

Sarah Sissons, whose son Ryan was born with brain damage 17 years ago because of poor maternity care, said: "A national public inquiry will call all of these associations into account, not just the hospitals but the regulators who should have been protecting us as families."

Dr Hawkins added: "A public inquiry compels people to give evidence under oath with all the detail behind their answers.

"Without that, we do not understand what has happened in maternity services, we do not understand who was responsible, and we do not understand how to stop it happening again."