Nottingham maternity bosses 'not listening' to patients and staff

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust runs Nottingham City Hospital and the Queen's Medical Centre

A hospital trust has been told it is still "not listening" to patients and staff after inspectors rated their maternity services as "inadequate".

An independent review is ongoing after dozens of babies died or were injured at sites run by Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust.

Nottinghamshire county councillors questioned the pace of improvement at the trust at a health scrutiny meeting.

Some have reiterated calls for a public inquiry.

'I have sat and sobbed'

At the meeting on Tuesday, councillors queried the progress of improvements at the trust, which runs the Queen's Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, acting chief executive Rupert Egginton, director of maternity Sharon Wallis, medical director Keith Girling and director of communications Tiffany Jones presented information on the maternity improvement plan.

Mr Egginton said the trust had received a letter requiring further improvements by 16 May following an unannounced re-inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) earlier this month.

Councillor Sue Saddington, chair of the health scrutiny committee, said: "You are not listening to patients, you are not listening to staff.

"Staff have spoken to me and broken down in tears because they are not listened to and don't know who to complain to, because they daren't.

"I have had so many emails from patients telling me the experiences they have had at the hospital. Quite frankly, I have sat and sobbed."

The review comes after an investigation found dozens of babies had died or were left seriously injured

It comes after the review's team revealed the number of families taking part had increased from 84 to 387 in two weeks.

Labour councillor Michelle Walsh - who has previously called for a public inquiry - said she did not believe the trust was capable of improving.

"It has taken parents standing up in a court of law and talking about their traumatic experience to even get to the point of having a review," she said.

"I don't believe that every woman who walks through your doors has a bad experience. My worry is that it's a bit pot-luck.

"I don't believe NUH is capable of making improvements. You've had years to do it and it's not happened."

Ms Wallis said a 24/7 maternity advice line had been set up, and that there had been training around additional foetal monitoring and leadership development for senior midwives.

However, she added staffing was the "biggest challenge" and that there was a rolling advert for recruiting midwives.