An inquiry into maternity standards at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust is now looking at the care received by nearly 1,200 families.

The probe, commissioned in 2017 by then health secretary Jeremy Hunt, came amid concerns over baby deaths.

Inquiry chairwoman, maternity expert Donna Ockenden, says they have been informed of 1,170 cases. The total includes more than 300 families whose details were passed to the inquiry by the trust itself.

Ms Ockenden has written to those families, asking whether they wish to have the care they received assessed by her team.

Shropshire Star

From the Shropshire Star:

• Farmers struggle to fill fruit-picking roles, external
• Two arrested after anti-lockdown protest, external
• Hart helps hospice score more than £3,400, external

James Small died from coronavirus and his daughter wants to dedicate her upcoming wedding to him.

An air ambulance crew will be running the equivalent distance of a marathon at its Coventry airbase in support of charity.

Image source, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance

Critical care paramedics Sophie Birt and Gavin Alexander, along with Dr Stuart Maitland-Knibb, will run the 26.2 miles up and down the runway at Coventry Airport on 26 April to raise funds for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.

The event will coincide with a national effort based around the numbers 2.6 or 26 to raise money for charities.

Ms Birt said: “We continue to support the NHS through our frontline, lifesaving services and as a healthcare charity, which receives no government funding, we rely solely on donations from the public, which we need now more than ever.

“Stuart, who was meant to run the London Marathon this year, Gavin and I hope to raise as much as possible for our service and we would also like to encourage people out in our local communities to join us by doing their own 2.6 challenge."

Deaths in England and Wales have risen sharply above what would be expected, hitting a 20-year high.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said there were 18,500 deaths in the week up to 10 April - about 8,000 more than is normal at this time of year.

Image source, Getty Images

More than half (53.2%) of deaths registered in London involved Covid-19, with the West Midlands having the next highest proportion (37%).

Nick Stripe, head of health analysis for ONS, said it was trying to understand what had been happening with the increase in non-coronavirus deaths.

He said it could be that during lockdown, people with other illnesses were avoiding going to hospital. But he added it could "take years to work out".

John Bray
BBC News

Three shire horses have become unlikely social media stars during the coronavirus lockdown.

Joe, William and Alfie are based at Acton Scott Historic Working Farm in Shropshire.

Since lockdown was announced four weeks ago, wagoner Simon Trueman and his partner Jak Hickman have produced 16 videos.

The total number of views on Twitter has topped 55,000.

The trust says it hoped to receive 50 gowns but has so far received more than 1,200 offers of help.

Paramedic Mark Anders was admitted to University Hospital Coventry with Covid-19.

He doesn’t know how he was infected but knows he was exposed to the virus while doing his job.

He's out of hospital now and recovering.

Soldiers from a Staffordshire-based regiment are being trained to carry out coronavirus testing to support NHS workers in Birmingham.

Image source, Army West Midlands

The troops, from 247 Gurkha Signal Squadron, part of 16th Signal Regiment based at Beacon Barracks, Stafford, have spent 10 days training at Edgbaston cricket ground, the Army says.

In total, 32 military personnel have been learning how to conduct testing and train others to do so.

Image source, Army West Midlands

Lance Corporal Bijay Gurung said: “We are honoured and proud to deploy on the ground to help during this crisis, and more than happy to do anything within our ability to help during this time.”

BBC CWR

A Coventry woman has paid her own tribute to the war veteran who raised millions for the NHS.

Captain Tom Moore, 99, amassed donations of more than £27m by completing 100 sponsored laps of his garden before his 100th birthday.

Image source, Mary Hart

Mary Hart, from the Stoke area of Coventry, said she'd knitted the woolly likeness "for fun", and shared the picture with her daughter and granddaughter, but it had "just gone mad on Facebook".

She said: "People have been in touch and said that he would love it. I think they've been in touch with him - I'm not sure who - I think it's a neighbour."

About 20,000 workers are affected as the car giant's executive leadership team defer salary payments.

Tom Edgington

Dentists in England are facing "critical shortages" of PPE, forcing patients with urgent problems to "take matters into their own hands", says an organisation representing the profession in the UK.

More than half (54%) of dentists in England say that PPE shortages are hampering efforts to treat patients at urgent dental care (UDC) hubs, according to a survey carried out by the British Dental Association (BDA).

The BDA, which surveyed one thousand dentists, says a lack of PPE has meant some UDC hubs can't currently treat patients.

Image source, Science Photo Library

Kathryn Hey, 47, a teacher from Biddulph in Staffordshire woke up with a sudden sharp pain on 2 April. She says she has not been seen by a dentist, despite making two phone calls and is managing with painkillers

"My toothache is more manageable now so I'm waiting for the lockdown to end before contacting my dentist again", she says.

"However, I still can't eat or drink on the side my tooth is, so it affects me every day."

You can read more on this story here.

Police fear that speeding motorists are taking advantage of empty roads during lockdown, police say.

One officer in Telford tweeted last night that he'd recorded the fastest speed in his career - a driver doing 64mph where the limit was 30mph.

It followed another police tweet earlier this month , externalwhich said a drink driver was arrested after doing 160mph on the A5 between Shrewsbury and Telford.

Most remaining services are for freight, supplies and repatriation of people from overseas.

A group of friends are chopping their hair off to raise money for their local hospital as a thank you during the pandemic.

Nicola Goodwin
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

Three jockeys have swapped racing horses for planting blackcurrants during lockdown.

When the sport was suspended in March, Charlie Deutsch, Richard Patrick and Stan Sheppard's incomes stopped.

But with a relative of Stan's owning Pixley Berries near Ledbury, Herefordshire, the trio are helping plant 125,000 blackcurrants this week.

Tributes have been paid to a "kind and compassionate" nurse at a Staffordshire hospital who died after contracting coronavirus.

Image source, Family handout

Patrick McManus, 60, pictured here with his three sons, had been a nurse for more than 40 years, including at North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary and then County Hospital in Stafford.

Tracy Bullock, chief executive of UHNM, said: "He was a loveable character and brought kindness and compassion to all his patients which was acknowledged by the number of compliments and thank you messages he received.

"He was an exceptional leader and took staff and students under his wing."

Daniel Wainwright
BBC England Data Unit

Some airports are "at risk" of closure because of the loss of business during the coronavirus pandemic, experts have warned.

Image source, Birmingham Airport

Birmingham Airport has seen a 90% reduction in flights, a spokeswoman for the airport said.

One of the airport's hangars is being used for a temporary mortuary with space for about 1,500 bodies.

"Birmingham Airport remains open to support any airlines that need to carry out aircraft maintenance checks, emergency flights and cargo, and we will continue to remain open for any airlines which need to use Birmingham as an arrival or departure point," she said.

She said remaining passenger flights included repatriation services arriving from Pakistan plus some services to Dublin and Amsterdam.

About 20,000 Jaguar Land Rover workers - half of its staff - have been furloughed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Image source, Getty Images

The car giant employs about 40,000 globally, including at plants in Castle Bromwich and Solihull and headquarters at Gaydon, Warwickshire.

All production was suspended last month, in response to the outbreak.

The firm said its executive leadership team would also defer salary payments for the next three months.

You can read more on the story here.

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

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