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Maternity scandals have hit the news again with BBC publishing an article regarding the concerns about maternity care provided at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (the Trust).
The report into the maternity care services at the Trust, which is due to be published next month, came about due to the ingenuity and tenacity of two mothers who had lost their babies as a result of poor care. They joined forces to find other women who had been similarly affected by carrying out a search of the internet, coroner’s records, and death notices. Once they had managed to collate 23 cases they took their concerns to Jeremy Hunt who, in May 2017, ordered an investigation of the maternity care services at the Trust to take place. The extensive investigation was led by Donna Ockenden, a Senior Midwife, and looked at over 1,800 cases.
An interim report into the Trust, which was published in December 2020, found that one of the key themes was that, in a lot of cases, it failed to investigate after something went wrong or they carried out their own inquiry, which the family was not allowed to be part of. There were also significant concerns that the Trust prioritised an agenda of achieving low caesarean section rates above the best interests of patients.
Comment
It is desperately sad and worrying that a report on the concerns, due to be published next month, is likely to reveal that a large number of stillbirths occurred due to poor maternity care. What should be a very happy and joyful time for new parents becomes a time of grief and sadness compounded by learning that a number of the deaths were preventable.
At Nelsons, our Medical Negligence team have frequently been instructed on cases where clients have resorted to a legal investigation because they have felt shut out by the medical services that have treated them when they raised concerns.
Clients often tell us that they only want answers to the concerns they have and this has been a feature of our work for a very long time. The recent issues identified by the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust investigation would suggest that things are not improving in spite of the Duty of Candour.
Here are two recent cases, where we have represented parents who have lost children due to the maternity care they were provided with during labour:
How we can help
Carolle White is a Senior Associate and Legal Executive in our Medical Negligence team, which has been ranked in tier one by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500.
Our team have extensive experience in dealing with cases involving stillbirth and can help you if you have been affected in ways similar to those outlined in this article. We can also deal with the complete range of claims involving concerns regarding medical treatment and can provide you with preliminary advice if you have any concerns.
Please get in touch with Carolle or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.