Nottingham Hospitals maternity review chair urges Government to put 'essential actions' in place

Senior midwife Donna Ockenden is currently examining cases of maternity care at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), which runs the Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital, in what’s considered the largest review of its kind.

The review involves looking at cases of stillbirth, neonatal deaths, brain damage to the baby, harm to mothers or mothers who have died.

In February, Ms Ockenden said 1,813 families had joined the review and this has since increased to 1,898.

A further 412 maternity experiences are being reviewed, while 720 staff members are involved.

Out of these, 160 staff members have requested meetings.

Ms Ockenden said: “Those numbers are of course real stories of tragedy, of life-changing events that those families could not have possibly have thought would happen to them.

“We are working at reaching out to all kinds of families across Nottinghamshire and we are still picking up themes about inequality in the provision of healthcare, racism and discrimination.

“A theme we have fed back to the trust that we do still hear of is women not being believed when they say they are in labour.

“In terms of NUH listening I have every confidence in the leadership, Anthony May as chief executive and Nick Carver as chair.

“They have given me their word that the findings we share with them, with permission of mothers, absolutely are built into the maternity improvement plan.”

Families and campaign groups, including the Maternity Safety Alliance, continue to call for a statutory public inquiry.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Con) declined the opportunity to commit to that while on a visit to the East Midlands this last month.

And Wes Streeting MP (Lab), Shadow Health Secretary, said he would be guided by Ms Ockenden if Labour come power.

Ms Ockenden says she believes the first step is for the Government to implement all essential actions from her time leading a previous review into Shrewsbury & Telford NHS Trust’s maternity services.

A Health and Social Care Committee: Safety of Maternity Services in England report recommended the national maternity budget to be increased by £200m to £350m per annum with immediate effect.

Ms Ockenden says she understands about £185m has been invested so far.

She continued: “I fully appreciate why the families are calling for a public inquiry.

“I think, as a first step, the Government must fully implement all of my immediately essential actions from the two reports into Shrewsbury, December 2020 and March 2022.

“From my perspective, they were not recommendations.

"They were immediate and essential actions and I think what we should be doing now is really moving at pace.”

In March, the Government announced a £35m investment to fund specialist training for staff and additional midwives.

Victoria Atkins MP (Con), Health Secretary said improving maternity care was ‘a key cornerstone of our women’s health strategy’.

The final report is expected to be published in September 2025, meaning the review can still hear from families until May to June next year.

Ms Ockenden said: “We are really making very good progress.

"If you are worried you haven’t heard from us please do get in touch.”