Shrewsbury maternity scandal: Hundreds of families come forward

Lawyers are demanding the Shropshire trust establish a new protocol to handle the rising numbers of cases

The number of cases of alleged poor care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust now stands at more than 700 (Alamy)

Hundreds of families whose babies died or were left disabled at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust have come forward during the past week, it has emerged.

Following revelations by The Independent of widespread poor maternity care over four decades, more than 200 families are understood to have complained about maternity care at the trust.

An independent investigation led by midwife Donna Ockenden was previously investigating more than 600 cases from 1979 to 2018. The trust is at the centre of the largest maternity scandal in the history of the NHS with a leaked report from the Ockenden review citing more than 40 deaths of mothers and babies and another 50 cases of babies left brain damaged.

Now clinical negligence lawyers have reported a flurry of families coming forward with many unaware of the Ockenden inquiry.

Kay Kelly, a partner at Lanyon Bowdler, told The Independent: “We have now had 100 enquiries since the leak which comprise accounts of baby deaths and poor outcomes including babies sustaining permanent brain damage covering a period from 1982 to recent months.

“Many of the callers had not heard of the Ockenden inquiry and have asked if we could provide them with the contact email.”

Separately, lawyers from the Irwin Mitchell firm, who are acting for 21 other families, have written to the Shropshire trust asking it to set up a protocol to make investigation of new complaints faster. The process has been used in other scandals, including that of rogue breast cancer surgeon Ian Paterson, and helps resolve cases faster without costly court battles.

Tim Annett, a partner at Irwin Mitchell, told The Independent: “We are continuing to hear extremely worrying first-hand accounts from families caught up in this scandal, the scale of which appears to be truly shocking.

“We have written to the NHS trust today calling for a meeting to discuss the escalating situation and have invited it to investigate setting up a scheme to deal with all cases.

“Through the NHS working with us, legal cases have concluded more swiftly, allowing families to try and look to the future as best they can, and it has been possible to avoid the uncertainty, additional distress and cost associated with litigation.”

The leaked interim report by midwifery expert Donna Ockenden exposed repeated failures by staff at the hospital to learn from errors meaning mothers and babies continued to suffer harm as recently as 2018.

The trust has been accused of prioritising natural births after it was shown to have one of the lowest caesarean rates in the NHS across an eight-year period.

Investigators are understood to now be cross-referencing the new cases to make sure there is no duplication of complaints. In a statement, Ms Ockenden, chair of the independent review, said: “I would like to thank the brave families who have come forward and shared their experiences – my team are now contacting families on a daily basis. If families would like to raise a concern I am asking them to please get in touch.”

A spokesperson for the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust said: “We have been working, and continue to work, with the independent review into our maternity services.

“We can reassure all families using our maternity services that we have not been waiting for the outcome of the review before working to improve our services. A lot has already been done to address the issues raised by previous cases.

“It is important that everyone who has concerns about their care is given the chance to discuss these and we would encourage anyone who feels they have not yet had this chance to contact Donna Ockenden, the independent midwife who is leading the review, by emailing maternityreview@donnaockenden.com.

“Anyone who is currently using our maternity services and has any questions can speak to their midwife or can contact the trust via email sath.womenandchildren@nhs.net.”