Shropshire baby deaths: New date for Ockenden report publication

Donna Ockenden admitted the latest delay had caused a "great deal of distress" for families

A new date has been set for a much-awaited report into maternity failings at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust.

The inquiry, led by Donna Ockenden, is the largest of its kind in the NHS's history, investigating 1,862 cases.

On Wednesday she wrote to families to say a publication date of 22 March had to be postponed due to parliamentary process.

However, in a follow-up, she said a new date of 30 March had been agreed.

The publication of the report had already been put back from December.

Her latest letter to families apologised for the delay, which she said was out of her team's control, but acknowledged it had "caused a great deal of distress".

The report is set to be published in Parliament and in Shrewsbury after the date was agreed with the Department of Health and Social Care.

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

Ms Ockenden was asked to review maternity services at SaTh in 2018 following a campaign by two families who lost their baby daughters.

Richard Stanton and Rhiannon Davies's daughter Kate died hours after her birth in March 2009, while Kayleigh and Colin Griffiths's daughter Pippa died in 2016 from a Group B Streptococcus infection.

The interim report published in December 2020 found some mothers were blamed for their babies' deaths.

SaTh previously said it was co-operating fully with the review team and added most of the actions raised in an interim report had already been completed.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]