Nottingham maternity scandal: Families slam NHS over ‘silence’ following no confidence vote

‘There has been silence. Families remain in utter limbo,’ says Sarah Hawkins whose daughter Harriet died in 2016

Sarah and Jack Hawkins with daughter Harriet ( )

Families impacted by the Nottingham maternity scandal say they have been left in “limbo” following silence from NHS England in response to their concerns over a major review, as 50 more come forward.

The review into failures in maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals Foundation Trust has now had 512 families come forward with concerns, up from 460 last month, and has spoken to 71 members of staff.

The update comes as families told The Independent they were yet to receive a direct acknowledgement or response to their warning on Monday that they had no confidence in newly appointed review chairwoman Julie Dent.

In response to a letter outlining her appointment, the families asked for Ms Dent to decline the offer and instead pushed for NHS England to ask Donna Ockenden, who is chairing a similar inquiry into Shrewsbury maternity care.

Former health secretary and health committee chairman, Jeremy Hunt, has now also challenged the NHS on Ms Dent’s appointment, and echoed the families’ call to ask Ms Ockenden.

It comes after almost 100 families sent a letter to health secretary Sajid Javid saying they had no confidence in the review, which began in July 2021, and called for a new one to be chaired by Ms Ockenden.

In an announcement last week, NHS England said it had “listened” to the families’ concerns and had appointed Ms Dent.

Speaking to The Independent, Jack and Sarah Hawkings, whose daughter died in 2016, said they’d had “silence” from NHS England.

That is despite them raising earlier concerns about a lack of communication and involvement with families.

Ms Hawkins said: “Many families fell apart over the weekend. For many, it was a case of surviving the weekend, to get through to Monday in the belief that NHSE would contact us, that Julie Dent would contact us, that she would reach out to families to reassure them. To make sure they were ok.

“This time has been and passed. There has been silence. Families remain in utter limbo.”

In a newsletter published on Wednesday, Mr Hunt said: “No disrespect to Julie Dent but why on earth didn’t they ask Donna Ockenden to do it? Donna knows how to do it, skilfully won over the confidence of the Shrewsbury and Telford families and – most importantly- can make recommendations that build on her earlier ones rather than try to invent the wheel. I have asked Sajid Javid about this so let’s see if there is any movement.

In its Friday announcement, NHS England said the review, which it is leading alongside local NHS commissioners, would have “enhanced” oversight from the national body.

The review was announced after The Independent and Channel 4 revealed millions of pounds had been paid out by the trust over 30 baby deaths and 46 incidents of babies left permanently brain damaged at hospitals run by Nottingham University Hospitals Foundation Trust.

So far, more than 460 families have come forward to raise concerns about poor care. The majority of those have come forward within the past two months.

In a comment following publication NHS England said:  “No one should have to go through what these families in Nottingham have suffered and it is absolutely right that they have their experiences of poor care responded to and learned from. The next steps of the review including engagement with families will be set out shortly.”