Mother seeks answers for maternity review change

Richard Stanton and Rhiannon Davies lost their daughter Kate in 2009 due to delays in transferring her to a doctor-led maternity unit

A bereaved mother has said she has written to police about the decision to remove a local hospital trust from a review of maternity failings across England.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH) was removed from the government's rapid reviews of "failures in the system" after discussions with police about their ongoing investigation, also known as Operation Lincoln.

Rhiannon Davies, who lost her daughter Kate in 2009 due to mistakes made by SaTH, said she "did not accept" that Operation Lincoln could be affected by the trust's involvement in the review, and wanted further clarification.

West Mercia Police said the final decision on the scope of the inquiry was made by Baroness Amos, who is chairing the review.

"Operation Lincoln was actually set up before the end of Ockenden, so they were running in parallel," she told the BBC.

In 2022, a review of maternity services in Shropshire, led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, concluded catastrophic failures may have led to the deaths of more than 200 babies, nine mothers and left other infants with life-changing injuries.

"If you think about Nottingham, there's a police investigation and the next Ockenden review running in parallel," said Ms Davies.

"The fact that this [Baroness] Amos review isn't even going to be an investigation into Shrewsbury and Telford, it's just going to be looking at what learning has already been identified, it just makes no sense."

The national review is due to look at the worst-performing maternity and neonatal services in the country and is scheduled to report back by December.

West Mercia Police began its own investigation in 2020, to explore whether there was evidence to support a criminal case against the trust or any individuals involved.

Earlier this year, the force announced it had started interviewing current and former members of staff.

On Thursday, the force said it had written to families to provide an update following the trust's removal.

"There has been in-depth engagement with the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, both to inform the review on the nature and progress of the police-led investigation and to ensure that aims and intention of the wider review remain valuable and achievable," it said.

"The final decision on the scope of the inquiry was made by Baroness Amos.

"We will continue to work with the review team and work in conjunction with them as they commence their 'call for evidence' next month."

'Obfuscation erodes trust'

Ms Davies said she had written to the deputy senior investigation officer of Operation Lincoln at West Mercia Police for clarification.

"Now, more worryingly, is the obfuscation in terms of communication - it's just confusing and it erodes trust, that's the last thing any family needs," she said.

"I can only imagine how affected all of the families in Shrewsbury and Telford feel by this.

"Nothing is more important and nothing must undermine Operation Lincoln, so if there's a very valid reason, fine, we have to accept that, however we're not there yet."