BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester

The rising cost of dogs during lockdown is attracting criminals, police said, after arrests were made following the discovery of 44 dogs in two vehicles.

Image source, Getty Images

Following a call from a member of the public who had become suspicious of activity on Bordesley Lane in Redditch, Worcestershire, officers and found a vehicle containing the animals and cash.

More dogs and puppies were found in a second vehicle shortly afterwards and four men were arrested on suspicion of dog thefts and animal cruelty offences.

Insp Lee Page said some of them needed help: "Some of them were in a poorly state and needed some care and attention.

"Prices of dogs and puppies have increased during lockdown. People have been wanting to get some companionship during what has been an incredibly difficult year."

Today's report is about making a "significant difference" to improve safety in maternity services across England, according to the chair of the review.

Midwife Donna Ockenden has been leading the efforts since 2017 and was clinical director of midwifery at the London Strategic Clinical Network from 2013-2017.

She has more than 30 years of experience nationally and internationally and her last role before starting the review saw her develop a scheme in the capital for standardising inquiries into maternal death.

In publishing the review, Mrs Ockenden said: "We have taken these initial steps, through the publication of this first report, towards making a significant difference in helping to improve safety in maternity services."

"I would like to express my very sincere thanks to the families who are at the very centre of this maternity review.

"This must include the very many families who tried to raise serious concerns about maternity care at the trust who have told us they were not listened to."

BBC Radio Shropshire

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has been urged to be "open and transparent" over introducing all the actions of the report into maternity services.

Image source, PA Media

The trust's chief executive, Louise Barnett, said it was committed to make the changes and would listen to women and families over any concerns in the future., external

Emma Thomas, from Newport, Shropshire, almost died after giving birth to her first child in 2016 in Telford and was awarded damages after the trust admitted negligence.

She said there now needed to be more scrutiny and accountability of the hospitals' maternity services.

"I would like to hear now from the trust in quite an open and transparent manner how they are going to implement this and the time frames that sit around it."

It is "desperately concerning" to see "another damning report" on serious failures in maternity care, a healthcare campaigner said.

James Titcombe led a campaign after his son Joshua (pictured) was one of 11 babies to die at Barrow's Furness General Hospital.

Image source, PA Media

His efforts led to reviews into maternity safety at Morecambe Bay NHS Trust which found 20 major failures and made a number of recommendations.

At the time, in 2015, the BBC reported it had echoes of the inquiries in the Stafford Hospital scandal in the years leading up to 2008.

Mr Titcombe said many of the themes of the Ockenden report "echo those found at Morecambe Bay" and warned Shrewsbury and Telford should not be seen as another "one-off".

"We must learn from this and ensure today’s report results in urgent change and not words alone.”

Shropshire Star

From the Shropshire Star today:

• Shropshire baby scandal: Inquiry reveals 27 essential actions needed to improve safety, external
• Tractor towing trailer crashes into house near Telford, external
• Miracle crash survivor thanks Shropshire rescue service crews, external

BBC Midlands Today

Families' grief at the deaths of their babies was made worse by the way they were treated by the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust [SaTH], a mother's said.

Kayleigh Griffiths's daughter Pippa was born at home in Shropshire in April 2016, but died from a Group B Streptococcus infection.

An inquest heard the trust accepted if it had been spotted earlier it is probable the baby would have survived.

Mrs Griffiths and her husband Colin campaigned for the Ockenden inquiry and she said reading today's report containing details of the hundreds of cases was heartbreaking.

"They were not listened to and their grief was compounded by the way they were treated by the hospital trust," she said.

The chief executive of SaTH said it committed "to implementing all of the report's actions".

Michael Buchanan
Social Affairs Correspondent, BBC News

This is not a dry report - its pages scream with the voices of the families who have been needlessly harmed.

I’ve heard many of these stories over the years, having spoken to dozens of families, but it to read it, in black and white, was still a sobering moment.

Image source, PA Media

The review’s publication also draws a firm line under the pretence that successive poor, weak leaders of the organisation maintained until recently, namely that the trust was no worse than others. They are worse, much worse, and have been for years.

The alphabet soup of NHS organisations that were meant to protect these families - the inspectors, the regulators, the commissioners – have a lot of questions to answer too.

Their repeated refusal to see what was happening, despite being told of the problems, is just as shaming as the trust’s stance.

Their moment of reckoning will come next year, when the final report is published.

BBC Radio Shropshire

Many of the incidents highlighted by the Ockenden review into maternity services in Shrewsbury and Telford were almost entirely preventable, according to a charity.

Image source, PA Media

Baby Lifeline was started by Judy Ledger about 40 years ago after she lost three babies.

She said the cases at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust were "heartbreaking" and the issues could have been prevented through better training, education, learning and investment.

Mrs Ledger added that the culture in maternity services had to change.

"We need our professionals to be supported to learn from their mistakes. I’m delighted that this is starting to change, but there’s still so much more to be done," she said.

A large number of women also died in labour, a review into a scandal-hit maternity unit finds.

This interim report into poor maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS trust found a catalogue of failures, external which contributed to errors being repeated, women and babies being continually harmed.

The review discovered:

• Letters and records “which often focused on blaming the mothers” rather than considering whether the trust’s systems were at fault
• Poor staff attitudes: "One of the most disappointing and deeply worrying themes that has emerged is the reported lack of kindness and compassion from some members of the maternity team"
• A disproportionately high number of maternal deaths. There were 13 between 2000-18, a rate of 15 per 100,000, which is above the UK rate of 13 per 100,000 in 2001 or nine per 100,000 for 2015-17
• After each maternal death “in some cases, no investigation was initiated” whilst in others “no learning appears to have been identified”
• In a significant number of cases the care provided by midwives “did not demonstrate the appropriate level of competence”
• A drug used to induce labour - oxytocin -was regularly misused while there were “significant problems” with the interpretation of equipment to monitor a baby’s heart-rate and indicate the health of the child
• The rate of Caesarean sections were 8%-12% lower than the England average and the team had a clear impression there was a culture to keep them low
• It added in some cases the earlier use of sections “would have avoided death and injury”

A lawyer who represents a number of families affected by the review into maternity failings said today's publication was a "bitter sweet" moment for them.

It had been a "very difficult and shocking" time for those involved said Tim Annett.

"We welcome the report's recommendations," he said, and "pay tribute to the families whose courage and tenacity has led to this review."

"Clearly nothing can change what has happened but hopefully lessons will be learned from these recommendations."

Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth has described today's report as heartbreaking.

"We must never compromise on patient safety," he tweeted, and called for the recommendations to be "swiftly implemented".

The government has said it expects the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) to act immediately on the recommendations from the review into maternity services.

Minister Nadine Dorries said the failings at SaTH were "shocking" and she expressed "heartfelt sympathies" for every family affected.

"I expect the trust to act upon the recommendations immediately, and for the wider maternity service right across the country to consider important actions they can take to improve safety for mothers, babies and families," she said.

"We will work closely with NHS England and Improvement, as well as Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, to consider next steps."

The independent review into maternity services in Telford and Shrewsbury was ordered by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2017.

He described the publication of today's interim report as a "tragic day for families across Shropshire who had it confirmed in black and white that hundreds of babies died needlessly".

"What is most shocking, though, is the scale and longevity of this scandal: it poses many challenging questions for the NHS and its regulatory system as well as to the trust," he added.

The review into maternity care in Shropshire has been described as a "damning report of failings".

Kim Thomas, chief executive of the Birth Trauma Association, said mothers and babies had died "as a result of poor team-working, a failure to learn from mistakes, a culture of cover-up and an obsession with keeping Caesarean rates low".

"It is time that maternity units throughout the country are properly monitored so that we can see just how widespread these failings are and to put in place measures that will ensure every woman receives good quality, evidence-based maternity care," she added.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has said it will implement all actions of the report into maternity services.

Chief executive Louise Barnett apologised for the "pain and distress that has been caused to mothers and their families due to poor maternity care at our trust.

“We commit to implementing all of the actions in this report and I can assure the women and families who use our service that if they raise any concerns about their care they will be listened to and action will be taken.”

Two families have been praised by the chair of the review for their "unrelenting commitment" to improving safety in maternity care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust.

Image source, Richard Stanton

Donna Ockenden said the inquiry's work "owes its origins to Kate Stanton Davies and her parents Richard and Rhiannon and to Pippa Griffiths and her parents Kayleigh and Colin".

Kate died hours after her birth in March 2009 and one-day-old Pippa died from a Group B Streptococcus infection.

Mrs Ockenden said both couples had pushed for the independent review.

"Kate and Pippa's parents have shown an unrelenting commitment in ensuring their daughter's short lives made a difference to the safety of maternity care."

A police investigation has been launched into the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust over its maternity services and the number of baby deaths.

In June, West Mercia Police said it was investigating whether there was "evidence to support a criminal case either against the trust or any individuals involved".

The force said it had met with NHS Improvement, the Department of Health and the independent reviewer to discuss complaints made against the trust.

The trust said in June it would "fully cooperate with the investigation".

The findings of today's review into maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS trust "must be acted on now," said an MP.

Conservative MP for Telford, Lucy Allan, described the findings of the review as "deeply harrowing."

"There was a clear imbalance of power between male consultants and female patients when they were at their most vulnerable," she said.

"The refusal to address the concerns women raised perpetuated the culture of poor care and allowed it to continue unchecked."

Maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust have been under independent review since 2017.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt ordered it and, at the time, the chair, midwife Donna Ockenden, was asked to look into 23 cases.

Today's report said the number had increased to 1,862 with the majority between 2000 and 2019.

Those behind the review said this first report had been released today due to the rise in the number of cases with recommendations designed to immediately improve patient safety.