It has been reported that the former health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has called for an independent inquiry into maternity failures at Nottingham University Hospitals following on from various reports of baby deaths. In the article, The Independent report:
‘Commenting on Twitter today, Mr Hunt said: “Simply devastating to hear of yet another NHS trust with serious failings leading to avoidable deaths in their maternity unit going back for many years. Morecambe Bay, Shrewsbury, East Kent, now Nottingham.”’
This comes following families speaking out about the care they received at the maternity unit in Nottingham.
The Commons Health Committee is now due to publish a report into the safety of maternity services provided by the NHS.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) report
The Independent article further reports that:
“…the Care Quality Commission has said 41% of maternity units in England are rated as inadequate or requires improvement on safety alone.”
The Nottingham Maternity unit is currently rated as ‘inadequate’ following an unannounced inspection by the CQC in December 2020. The CQC further found that a number of incidents at the Trust have been “inappropriately graded”.
The Independent has also reported:
“The CQC told [them]: ‘We are currently in the process of making initial enquiries to establish whether there is reasonable suspicion that a criminal offence has been committed. Those enquiries are ongoing and we will report further as soon as we are able to do so’.”
The article states that Mr Hunt commented that:
‘”The story is too familiar…bereaved families treated in a cold & defensive manner when they seek answers and assurances lessons are learnt.” He said the families were left to fight in a closed system and had to rely on journalists to take up their case.’
He also urged ministers to order an independent inquiry into the maternity failures at Nottingham University Hospitals
How Nelsons can help
Emily Rose is an Associate in our expert Medical Negligence team, which is ranked in Tier One of the independently researched publication, The Legal 500.
At Nelsons, we are currently retained on a number of cases in relation to the maternity care at Nottingham University Hospitals. If you have experienced poor medical treatment, our specialist team can provide you with support regarding your circumstances.
Please contact Emily or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form for more information.