Nottingham NHS Trust says it will not simply “move on” after maternity review is published
Donna Ockenden’s maternity review is due in June following a long investigation into alleged harm to babies and mothers at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
A scandal-hit NHS trust will not “breathe a sigh of relief and move on” after the largest ever maternity review into its services is published next month, its chief executive has said.
Former midwife Donna Ockenden’s independent report about maternity care at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) will be published on June 24.
The review, which involves nearly 2,500 families, is the largest in NHS history and began more than three years ago after allegations of harm to babies and mothers.
Speaking at a meeting with some of the affected families on Saturday, the trust’s chief executive Anthony May said the review “is not the end of the road” for improvements in maternity services, describing it as a “watershed moment”.
“What we have heard is we have made mistakes and we have failed women and families going back many years,” he said.
“There’s some evidence that things are better in our maternity services. I’m convinced that is a great deal to do with your courage in coming forward and speaking up.”
He said of the review being published next month: “We are looking forward to it.
“I know that you might take an impression that this is a burden for us and that we reluctantly engaged in all this – that absolutely is not true.
“We will not breathe a sigh of relief and move on when Donna has published this report.”
Dr Jack and Sarah Hawkins, who both used to work for the trust until their daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016, have been campaigning to expose failures at NUH ever since.
Speaking on Saturday, Mrs Hawkins said she sustained a bladder injury after Harriet died.
She said: “I received a letter in the post to review my bladder stretch injury and they brought me to the antenatal clinic.
“On that note, they wrote ‘make sure your bladder is full so we can scan your pregnancy’. And after your daughter has died a month before, I cannot even describe the trauma.
“I also found a text message from us to the bereavement midwife saying, ‘We’re at our wit’s end. Why is no-one listening to us? Why is Harriet’s death not declared as a serious incident?’
“We got no response and we blew the whistle. We were clinicians, we blew the whistle and we knew who to blow it to and what systems to use. And here we are. No-one listened.
“The largest maternity scandal in NHS history and it’s horrific.”
Dr Hawkins said the maternity failures at NUH rank alongside other “massive scandals” such as the infected blood scandal.
He added: “When Donna arrived, we’d been gaslighted, Sarah and I, so hard and so often by the NHS … that we weren’t sure if we’d shouted loudly and got something that wasn’t needed.
“For the first few months, we were terrified that we got this massive thing happening and that there were going to be three families in it – because that’s what we were being led to believe.
“And here we are.”
More than 850 members of staff at the trust have come forward to Ms Ockenden’s independent review.
NUH is also being investigated for potential offences of corporate manslaughter over deaths related to maternity services at its hospitals.