Nottingham: Letters sent to 1,000 more families in maternity review

Senior midwife Donna Ockenden is leading a review into maternity failings in Nottingham - after heading a similar review in Shropshire

More than 1,000 letters have this week been sent to families who may have received poor maternity care at hospitals in Nottingham.

They were sent by a team investigating dozens of baby deaths and injuries at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust's maternity units.

Senior midwife Donna Ockenden, who is leading the review, wants more affected families to share their experiences.

The trust said it was committed to improving maternity care.

Ms Ockenden said it was "absolutely vital" to hear from families who might have been failed while being cared for at the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) and Nottingham City Hospital.

The review is expected to be the largest maternity investigation in NHS history, with 1,800 families and 700 staff set to be included.

The review's methodology has now changed to an opt-out system, meaning families must choose to be excluded from it, after a lower-than-anticipated response rate to the previous opt-in system.

The review of maternity care at the City Hospital (pictured) and the Queen's Medical Centre could go on until 2025

Families who could be involved in Ms Ockenden's review will receive a purple envelope, posted inside a white envelope for privacy reasons, this week, with the letters sent out on Monday.

Ms Ockenden said: "It is absolutely vital that every family, across Nottinghamshire, who wants to be involved in this review, who wants to understand more about this review, is able to join it.

"With the opt-in methodology, we had managed to reach only 10% of the known affected black women, and only around 5% of the known women of Asian ethnicity, and that simply wasn't good enough.

"What we've done now is change the review to a different methodology, we've improved upon the language accessibility and we've worked really hard with Nottingham City Council to make sure that the information is out there."

Trust chief executive Anthony May said the trust was holding regular meetings with Ms Ockenden

The opt-out system was also used in the independent review led by Ms Ockenden into maternity care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, with the purple letter campaign an idea of the review's Community and Family Voices group.

The letters are available in seven languages, including English, Urdu, Arabic and Polish, with families able to have as much or as little contact with the review as they wish.

The review has also worked with local councils and community groups to allow families to access information about the review at sites like libraries.

Ms Ockenden, who launched the Nottingham review in September last year, estimated it would take a further two years before the final report could be published.

NUH said it was fully co-operating with the review and encouraged families to take part in it.

A separate police investigation into maternity care at the trust has been launched alongside the review.

Earlier this month the Care Quality Commission (CQC) upgraded its assessment of maternity care at the trust from "inadequate" to requires improvement, but affected families said they still had concerns and wanted those responsible for failings held accountable.

Trust chief executive Anthony May told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "As the recent CQC inspections confirm, our maternity services are improving, and all at NUH are committed to continuing that progress.

"Listening to all women and families will help us learn, and create a safe culture in which our maternity service can continue our improvement journey."