Maternity scandal trust invites patients' feedback

Trust boss, Louise Barnett, is asking patients to share their views about how maternity services could improve

A hospital trust where major maternity failings may have led to the deaths of hundreds of babies is asking patients to get in touch about ways to improve services.

In June, Donna Ockenden, the senior midwife behind the inquiry into the scandal in Shropshire said Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH) had ignored families who were affected.

In 2022, having uncovered multiple episodes of flawed care dating back years, the Ockenden report found the deaths of more than 200 infants could be linked to failures at SaTH.

The request to patients was made in a letter written by chief executive Louise Barnett, which stated the trust recognised it did not provide some families with the information and contact they would have liked.

"I am sorry to those of you we have let down, as that has never been our intention, and we would like to address this," the letter continued.

Ms Barnett said SaTH had been in contact with many families covered in the maternity review, as well as those who were not, and encouraged other people to get in touch.

"We genuinely wish to engage with families more so that we can learn and improve further, and we are exploring more ways to do this better," the letter explained.

SaTH runs Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital, Telford.

Mrs Ockenden met some families in Shrewsbury in June, after they contacted her to say they had heard nothing from the trust since the publication of her report.

Their complaints included a lack of confidence in the trust and officials not being open to approaching them unless there was a direct benefit to the trust, Ms Ockenden said.

Ms Barnett said the trust had implemented 195 of the 210 actions from the Independent Review of Maternity Services, and that it continued to work on the remaining 15.

She added that SaTH worked with the Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) to gather feedback from families and communities across the county about maternity and neonatal services.