Grieving families' concerns over NHS data loss

Sarah and Gary Andrews are campaigning to improve maternity safety after their baby Wynter died due to failings at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre

Families impacted by failings at Nottingham's two NHS maternity units say it is vital police find answers as to how sensitive computer data was deleted at the hospital trust.

Nottinghamshire Police have launched an investigation into the temporary loss of a computer file at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH).

Nottingham's main hospitals remain at the centre of the biggest review of maternity failings in NHS history, being led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden.

On Saturday, families were told the data was temporarily lost but recovered, and 300 more cases were expected to be added to the inquiry after a discrepancy was noted by a coroner.

Anthony May, NUH chief executive, said the trust was treating the temporary loss of the computer file "extremely seriously" and was working with police.

The BBC understands the file contained maternity documents, including details of some baby deaths.

Ms Ockenden said extending the review to accommodate hundreds of new families ensured "their voices will now be heard"

The Trust says the file went missing in July for a few days, but the information has since been recovered.

Families found out about the data loss at an event organised by the independent team reviewing Nottingham's maternity services.

Sarah and Gary Andrews, who attended the meeting, lost their baby Wynter 23 minutes after she was born at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre in 2019.

In a rare prosecution brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the trust was fined £800,000 in 2023 after admitting failings in the care of Wynter - the largest financial penalty ever handed out to an NHS hospital trust over maternity care.

The Andrews told the BBC they were deeply shocked at the temporary data loss.

Mrs Andrews said: "We feel reassured that the police are addressing it."

Mr Andrews added: "Whether it is a legitimate error, human error, or other, we don't know yet. So it will be interesting to see how that develops and what went wrong."

Sarah Hawkins said she had "full faith" in the police investigation after she attended Saturday's meeting

By the end of May this year, it is expected the review will be examining 2,500 cases where mothers or babies have died or been injured - the bulk of them between 2012 and the present day.

The increased caseload now means the inquiry is working to a new timeline. Instead of the final report being published in September 2025, it is now due to be delivered in June 2026.

Sarah Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn at Nottingham City Hospital in 2016 after a catalogue of failings, was also at Saturday's briefing.

Mrs Hawkins commented on the police's cyber investigation, saying: "We have full faith in the police and that the answers will come out; just on the background of the culture at NUH and what families of Nottinghamshire have been through, it's extremely concerning."

MP Michelle Welsh said she would hold the police to account in their investigation

Michelle Welsh, the Labour MP for Sherwood Forest, whose own experiences giving birth to her son are being considered by the review team, said the deletion of the computer file was shocking but she had been reassured, as an MP, there would be a thorough investigation.

She added: "I'll be holding them to account on that."

Two investigations

Concerns about Nottingham's NHS maternity service were already the subject of an operation by Nottinghamshire Police, codenamed Operation Perth.

The inquiry into the computer file loss is being run by the same force but will be managed separately, but both will be overseen by a senior police officer.

The trust said two investigations, one internal and one by the counter-fraud team, had been unable to determine the cause of the deletion.

Mr May said: "We have put the appropriate measures in place to secure the digital files so that this cannot happen again."

The trust added the additional cases were due to a misunderstanding about whether cases involving babies brought to Nottingham hospitals from other trusts should be included in the review.