01 September 2023 , 06:39
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Parents of babies that died in the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history are calling for the police to investigate those responsible.
Today marks the first anniversary of the ongoing independent review into care failings at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which is looking into the ordeals of 1,700 families. The Nottingham Families Maternity Group said while progress has been made, there has still been no sanction against senior leaders or staff who at times were “rewarding” unsafe care.
Gary and Sarah Andrews’ first child, Wynter, died in their arms 23 minutes after being born at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre in 2019 due to a lack of oxygen to the brain, shortly after an emergency Caesarean section. The trust was fined £800,000 in January for what a judge described as “systematic failures” in the care of baby and mother.
Sarah said: “We want the police to look at the individual cases and take it seriously, and really consider if there are criminal proceedings that can be taken there. From the very start, all we have wanted to do is to stop families going through what we’ve gone through.
Jack and Sarah Hawkins with daughter Lottie (PA)“Losing our daughter has destroyed our lives. We’re not the same people. We can’t work, every day is a struggle. We don’t want to see other families doing that. We don’t want families contacting us saying, ‘I’ve seen your story and this has happened’.” An inquest into Wynter’s death found it could have been prevented had staff acted sooner. Neither Gary nor Sarah has been able to return to work. They now live in Oxford with son Bowie, two.
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Sarah added: “We want change to happen and that has been our motive from the very beginning. We want assurances that changes have been made.” The inquiry is led by Donna Ockenden, the mid-wifery expert whose Shrew-sbury report concluded in March 2022 that failures had led to more than 200 deaths. The probe was expanded in July when NUHT pledged to publicly apologise to affected families in due course.
Other affected families include Jack and Sarah Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016, a death found to be almost certainly preventable. Another mum, Felicity Benyon, had her bladder removed by mistake in 2015 during a C-section. Worryingly, NFMG said it continues to be “contacted by families who have been recently harmed”. And the group said in a statement: “To date, not a single person – clinical, managerial, board member, commissioner, governance lead – has been held to account for the known, avoidable and predictable failures.
“How is this possible? Coroners have concluded ‘neglect’ in multiple inquests. This, along with the high number of medical negligence cases, should surely trigger disciplinary processes.” NUHT chief executive Anthony May said steps have been taken to improve maternity care, adding: “Our hospitals are a landmark in these communities and we have to find a way and the capacity to improve if we’re to maintain the trust and confidence of local people.
“So whatever the cost, whatever it takes, we must respond to the review.” NUHT, last graded as requiring improvement, has been reinspected by the Care Quality Commission and the report will be published this month.