Review into Nottingham NHS maternity failings launches

Donna Ockenden said the review needed to be comprehensive

A review into failings at a city's NHS maternity units has launched, with a call for affected families to come forward.

The review, led by midwife Donna Ockenden, will examine how dozens of babies died or were injured at the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) trust.

Ms Ockenden previously led an inquiry into the UK's biggest maternity scandal at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust.

NUH said it welcomed the review.

'Absolutely harrowing'

Ms Ockenden said: "The ultimate aim of this independent review is to make sure the performance at the trust's maternity service improves as quickly as possible and in a way that means those improvements are sustained.

"As with the Shrewsbury review, this review will assess if cases of concern were adequately investigated by the trust at the time, if the lessons for learning were the appropriate ones and whether the lessons were indeed learned and acted upon."

She added she had already met with some of the families and said their accounts were "absolutely harrowing".

Ms Ockenden said the review was also working hard to reach all communities in the Nottingham area and emphasised it was interested in all experiences, not just the most traumatic where babies had died or been injured.

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In a statement, Ms Ockenden's team - which consists of about 60 practising NHS maternity experts from across the country - said it was of "paramount importance" the review was comprehensive, leaving no voices unheard.

"In order to achieve this, it is essential that Donna and the review team are in contact with as many families and current and former staff in maternity services as possible," the statement said.

Ms Ockenden said she expected the review would take about 18 months but she planned to share "learning points" with the trust during that time.

Families, who have called for an independent inquiry for years, have welcomed its launch.

Sarah Hawkins and her husband Jack have campaigned for years for an investigation

Jack and Sarah Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn at NUH in 2016 after a series of failings, said the start of the new investigation was a landmark moment.

They urged families to take part in the review.

Mrs Hawkins said: "It's an incredible feeling because for so long we've been fighting.

"We feel a massive sense of relief.

"We understand our daughter is dead but there will be people out there with healthy babies who have had failures in their care and we would ask them to come forwards and share their concerns.

"We need to do this, a team effort to get Nottinghamshire safe again for mothers."

Jack Hawkins said he welcomed the review he had called for

Mr Hawkins added: "It's an independent review, it's what's been needed for a long time and we welcome it. We are just so pleased."

The couple, who previously worked for the trust, were one of a number of families who lobbied former health secretary Sajid Javid.

NHS England appointed Ms Ockenden to lead a review in Nottingham in May 2022, following her previous work investigating the deaths of more than 200 babies at Shrewsbury and Telford.

A review was already under way in Nottingham but critics said its remit was too narrow and it was not independent enough.

The Nottingham trust was established in 2006 when the management of the Nottingham City Hospital and the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) merged to form one organisation.

Figures obtained by the BBC have found that, between 2005-6 and 2020-21, there were a total of 207 claims against the hospital's maternity services, including 36 for cerebral palsy, 26 for stillbirths and 24 for brain damage.

The total amount awarded in damages for that period was more than £110m.

In December 2020, the trust's maternity services were rated inadequate with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) finding "several serious concerns".

Michelle Rhodes, chief nurse at NUH, said: "We are deeply sorry for the unimaginable distress that has been caused due to failings in our maternity services.

"We know that an apology will never be enough and we owe it to those who have been failed, those we're caring for today and to our staff to deliver a better maternity service for our communities.

"We welcome Donna Ockenden and her team to Nottingham and will work with them to achieve this."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Donna Ockenden has brought a wealth of experience, particularly following her work on the review of Shrewsbury and Telford maternity services - and the department looks forward to seeing her recommendations for urgent improvements.

"We will continue to take all the steps necessary to ensure no families have to go through this pain again."

• Families seeking to contact the inquiry team can email [e-mail]