Healthcare watchdog launches review of maternity case

Jack and Sarah Hawkins's daughter Harriet was stillborn after almost 41 weeks of pregnancy

The healthcare watchdog has begun an external review into how it handled the case of a baby who was stillborn due to mistakes by maternity staff.

Jack and Sarah Hawkins's daughter Harriet was stillborn after almost 41 weeks of pregnancy at Nottingham City Hospital in April 2016.

For ITV's Maternity: Broken Trust programme, that aired last month, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) submitted a right of reply statement, which the pair said was "dishonest".

The CQC has now said it will be reviewing its knowledge and handling of information relating to Harriet's death.

Ms Hawkins was in labour for six days before Harriet was stillborn, almost nine hours after dying in the womb.

Hospital bosses initially found "no obvious fault" and the couple were told their child had died of an infection.

An external review of the case later found 13 failings and concluded the death was "almost certainly preventable."

In 2021, Dr and Ms Hawkins received a £2.8m settlement, believed to be the largest payout for a stillbirth clinical negligence case.

Ms Hawkins said the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had "failed us"

In the ITV documentary, the couple talked about their distress over the CQC not prosecuting Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust for gross failures of care in Harriet’s case.

The CQC has the power to prosecute health and social care providers in England, and they must be brought within three years of the alleged offence.

In the statement in the ITV programme, the CQC said because NUH had not declared Harriet's death as a serious incident, it was not aware of the case until four and a half years later.

Dr and Ms Hawkins said they have copies of emails between the CQC and NUHT in 2018, which show they were aware of the failings within the three-year period

Ms Hawkins said: "I am really frustrated by their response to the documentary.

"The CQC was aware of Harriet's death and Harriet's death was reported as a SI [serious incident].

"To say that on the documentary was absolutely infuriating.

"We met with the CQC in October [last year] and we told the then chief executive, and provided all the evidence, so for them to say they did not know is full of untruths."

She added: "The CQC has failed us. They need to now start lobbying the government about this three-year law.

"I would like prosecution and for that to happen, they need to change the law."

Dr Hawkins said: "They knew and we know that they knew before the three years ran out for a prosecution.

"For them to first of all not prosecute when there was ample evidence, for them to then claim they didn't know, it is too much to heap on bereaved parents."

The CQC said Dr and Ms Hawkins would be working with them to agree next steps for the review

In a separate review, senior midwife Donna Ockenden has been examining how hundreds of babies died or were injured under the care of NUH.

It is the biggest maternity investigation in NHS history, but a report is not expected to be returned until 2025.

A CQC spokesperson said: "We will be commissioning an external review into the CQC's knowledge and handling of information relating to Harriet Hawkins' death, and our engagement with the Hawkins family in response to concerns about the care received at Nottingham City Hospital.

"We will be working with Jack and Sarah Hawkins directly to develop the terms of reference for this review and to agree next steps."

NUH chief executive Anthony May said: "I am sorry that the trust’s initial investigation into baby Harriet’s death was insufficiently robust, and that this led to a delay in reaching a full understanding of what happened.

"I apologise to Jack and Sarah Hawkins for that delay and for the undoubted pain and suffering that it caused."

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