‘Families’ maternity concerns should have been addressed earlier’

Senior midwife Donna Ockenden spoke on Radio 4’s Today programme after Nottinghamshire Police announced they were launching an investigation.

The concerns of families affected by maternity failures in Nottingham should have been addressed sooner, midwifery expert Donna Ockenden said as a bereaved couple revealed documents showing they shared fears of a cover-up seven years ago (PA) (PA Archive)

The concerns of families affected by maternity failures in Nottingham should have been addressed sooner, midwifery expert Donna Ockenden said as a bereaved couple revealed documents showing they shared fears of a cover-up seven years ago.

Ms Ockenden, who is leading the largest review into failings in maternity care in NHS history at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUHT), which will involve around 1,800 families and look at the deaths of several babies and the harming of babies and mothers at its three sites in the city, was speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday.

Asked if concerns should have been acted on earlier, she said: “Absolutely. On Wednesday, the families released to the public copies of letters where they were raising very significant concerns about the safety of maternity in Nottingham from April 2016.

“These included letters to the board, to the coroner, to the wider NHS system and they were not listened to.”

The letters have been released to the public on behalf of Dr Jack and Sarah Hawkins, who both worked at NUHT and were one of the first families to raise concerns over care failings after the death of their daughter Harriet during labour on April 17 2016.

They show concerns were formally raised about the care they received during Harriet’s birth with the NUHT board on June 2 2016.

They wrote: “We are not sure what is happening, but are deeply concerned that the plan is for an internal investigation performed by the obstetric team, without our involvement, followed by a meeting with a consultant. This is neither appropriate nor proportionate.

“We need to trust that NUH are conducting an appropriate inquiry. We do not currently believe that you are. Can you re-assure us please?”

Also speaking on the Today programme on Friday, Dr Hawkins told presenters: “We realised as soon as we were told ‘I’m sorry your baby is dead’ that something had gone wrong.

“We told them in 2016 that their view on maternity safety was so poor that there could be someone causing deliberate harm and that is documented and written to all the right people and ignored.”

Ms Ockenden said on the Today programme that the professional duty of candour, which requires every health and care professional to be open and honest with patients when something that goes wrong with their treatment or care causes or has the potential to cause harm or distress, was not being “properly applied”.

She said: “There is a duty to be honest and open and we will need to look at everything that comes out.

“Very, very serious concerns were raised in the months after Harriet died and nothing material was done. They were not listened to.”

Ms Ockenden said she is confident the police investigation and her own independent review will be able to go ahead without impeding each other.

She said: “I had an in-depth conversation with (Chief Constable at Nottinghamshire Police) Kate Meynell on Wednesday. She has assured me the work of her officers will not impede our progress.

“It will be like two trains going along parallel lines. We will of course co-operate with their investigation but I’m not anticipating their work will delay ours.”

Anthony May, who inherited the scandal when he became the trust’s chief executive last year, is supportive of Ms Ockenden’s review and will also co-operate with the police probe.