'It was a difficult time to be a midwife'

Senior midwife Donna Ockenden led the review into maternity services

A year on from the publication of a damning review into maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH), midwives there say they are starting to feel proud again.

In 2022, senior midwife Donna Ockenden found catastrophic failures at the trust contributed to the deaths of more than 200 infants.

It continues to be in special measures while it improves the quality of care.

One midwife at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, Georgie, said she had found life so challenging at the time of the report's publication she did not want to admit what she did for a living "in case a judgement was cast upon you".

"Working somewhere in Shropshire, there's only one hospital, one maternity unit. So meeting new people, having contact from friends and family, knowing that I'm a midwife and that I work at this trust was quite challenging," she said.

"It was a very difficult time to be a midwife here."

• Listen: Shropshire maternity review - one year on

Despite that, she said she had still felt a passion for her profession, and that things were now changing and improving "one woman at a time".

She joined the trust about four years ago, when the spotlight was very much on SaTH.

The inquiry led by Donna Ockenden last year was the largest of its kind in the history of the NHS and her report was a scathing indictment of maternity care in the county.

It examined maternity services at SaTH over 20 years and found serious failures in care as well as a culture of bullying, anxiety and fear of speaking out among staff.

The trust was given more than 200 recommendations to improve care, with other recommendations for the wider NHS.

• Shrewsbury maternity scandal: Repeated failures led to deaths

• 'We've had to fight all the way for this'

• The parents whose lives were changed forever

'In the spotlight'

On another ward in the hospital, midwife Steph has also seen improvements.

"Every time more reports come out, we feel very in the spotlight," she said.

"Sometimes it's been quite difficult to even come to work knowing that, even though I'm coming to work to do the best that I can, people on the outside looking in will be thinking I'm not."

She said even her own family questioned her decision to work for SaTH since she joined four and a half years ago, but now she said she could "hold my head high".

"I'm proud to work here."

Steph said there had been a "massive change" to address the cultural issues identified by Ms Ockenden and her team.

"We've gone from almost skeletal leadership to a big team that are very communicative with the staff force," she said.

"Every month we're addressing things that we need to learn from.

"Previously it was just dropped in an email and I don't think everybody would check those emails, it's a lot more in your face and active."

Anne Marie Lawrence said services had improved at SaTH

The director of midwifery, Annemarie Lawrence, said having new protocols in place had boosted staff confidence.

"We look at, 'did we do everything we should have in that process?'" she said.

"That's where we get the confidence from that the systems and processes that we've introduced are working well.

"Increases in incidents is really encouraging to me as it means the culture of reporting we're striving for is taking place."

The trust as a whole remains in special measures and is rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission watchdog.

Ms Lawrence said some of the recommendations had not been implemented yet but the trust was focussed on "quality over quantity".