The Nottingham Post has reported that police have launched a new investigation into the Nottingham hospitals at the centre of the city’s maternity scandal after information relevant to the case was found to have been deleted.
New investigation
Nottinghamshire Police are already investigating Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (the Trust) further to the failings previously identified at the city’s maternity services.
Last year, the coroner identified discrepancies were found in a number of cases that should have been provided for the review of services by the hospitals.
As a result, the Trust appointed someone to review some cases, however, a digital file they were using was deleted in July 2024.
Nottinghamshire Police have confirmed that their cyber crime unit would be investigating the deleted file, which has now been recovered, and working to determine how the file was lost.
Assistant Chief Constable, Mr Rob Griffin, said:
“The fact the file had been deleted has not impacted on the investigation nor on any of our decision-making…Nottinghamshire Police will however investigate how that file came to be deleted…”
Chief Executive of the Trust, Mr Anthony May, said:
“We are now working with [police] on their investigation to understand the cause. In the meantime, we have put the appropriate measures in place to secure the digital files so that this cannot happen again.”
Families Concerned “What else is going to come out?”
The Nottinghamshire Post spoke to Sarah Hawkins, whose baby, Harriet, died after failings at the Trust in 2016.
She said:
“What else is going to come out? It just feels like a can of worms…When is it going to end?”
Ms Hawkins continued that she was “extremely concerned about the culture at the trust” and hopes that the Police’s latest investigation can determine how the file was lost.
Comment
At a time when their reputation is already so badly damaged by the maternity scandal itself, situations involving the deleting of relevant files and information are truly shocking.
The Trust should be acting with integrity, openness, and honesty at this stage. It’s the least the families affected by the maternity scandal deserve.
As Ms Hawkins commented to the Nottinghamshire Post, this only serves to open a further can of worms and answers are inevitably going to be demanded as to how something like this could happen.
It is, though, a welcome development that the Police are taking this situation seriously and investigating thoroughly. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this investigation and what exactly happened to the file.
How can we help?
Danielle Young is a Legal Director in our Medical Negligence team, which has been ranked in tier one by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500.
If you have any questions in relation to the subjects discussed in this article, then please get in touch with Danielle or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.
Contact us