Recent Report Into Shrewsbury & Telford NHS Trust Maternity Services

The report into Maternity Services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS (SaTH) Trust released on Thursday, 10th December made for very difficult reading.

The interim report lists numerous traumatic and avoidable birth experiences including deaths of babies due to excessive force of forceps and stillbirths.

The review identified records “which often focused on blaming the mothers” rather than considering whether the Trust’s systems were at fault. It said:

The inquiry is investigating 1,862 cases and has initially examined 250 cases.

After each death “in some cases, no investigation was initiated” whilst in others “no learning appears to have been identified.”

The seven actions stipulated for all maternity services across England include:

• Enhanced safety;
• Listening to women and families;
• Staff training and working together;
• Managing complex pregnancy;
• Risk assessment throughout pregnancy; and
• Monitoring fetal wellbeing.

As part of those seven actions, it said there must be twice daily consultant-led ward rounds, seven days a week, in the day and at night.

Comment

As a senior clinical negligence lawyer – and as a father  – I found the contents of this report hard to read. It seems that it took some very brave and determined parents who would not accept what was being told to them about what had happened to their babies to fight for the truth. I can’t begin to imagine how hard that must have been.

One fervently hopes that this is the last such scandal and that the lessons learned here will be applied effectively across the country. Those seven action points read to me like a list of the blindingly obvious.

It remains vitally important that people have access to specialist legal help and advice –  someone on the their side who will act for them and support them through what is often a complex and frightening legal minefield.