Shropshire baby deaths: Maternity leaders put on leave at hospitals

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is at the centre of the largest ever inquiry into NHS maternity care

Senior midwifery managers from an under-fire hospital trust have been placed on leave.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTh) is at the centre of an inquiry looking into almost 1,900 cases where mothers or babies may have been harmed.

The BBC understands the decision was made by another trust which was brought in to help improve services.

SaTh said a "small number" of staff were "absent" from the trust.

The trust has been in special measures since November 2018, the same year an investigation was launched into its maternity services led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden.

The review began following campaigns led by two families. Richard Stanton and Rhiannon Davies' daughter Kate died hours after her birth in March 2009, while Kayleigh and Colin Griffiths' daughter Pippa died in 2016 from a Group B Streptococcus infection.

Last year, the Ockenden review's interim report found mothers were blamed for their babies' deaths and a large number of women died in labour.

Since it was published, the NHS has committed to spending £100m improving maternity safety in England, while hundreds of senior NHS maternity and neonatal staff across England are to get "leadership training".

Rhiannon Davies, pictured with daughter Kate, campaigned for a review into maternity care

In February, the trust formed a partnership with the Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust to help improve maternity services and the BBC understands it was involved in the decision to place the managers on leave.

A spokesperson for the trust said: "An internal communication was sent out to our Women and Children's Division which clarified reporting lines whilst a small number of colleagues are absent from the trust.

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"To support those absences, an experienced Head of Midwifery has joined the trust on an interim basis, and will work with the divisional leadership.

"This additional support will ensure that our services remain safe and operate as normal, and that the trust can continue to make timely progress on our improvement journey."

The trust said it was unable to comment further on the nature of the absences.