Donna Ockenden: Nottingham maternity review team to meet families

A family whose daughter was stillborn after mistakes by staff at a failing NHS maternity service have spoken of their hopes for a new review.

Donna Ockenden is meeting families, many of whom had babies who died or were left with serious injuries due to failings at the city's maternity units.

Among the families are Jack and Sarah Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn at Nottingham City Hospital.

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) said they would support the review.

Mrs Hawkins said she had started having contractions after her due date and had made 13 contacts with the hospital but was repeatedly told she was not in labour.

"I was made to feel like a complete failure, like I was the only woman that couldn't deal with labour," she said.

Mr Hawkins said: "It wasn't for want of asking. We made so many attempts to get them to listen.

"It took 159 days after our daughter died before they declared a serious incident. They were trying desperately to not let this come out.

"We had to produce our phone records for them to believe we had made all of the contacts."

The couple said they had spent years pushing for an external independent review.

"It's been completely swept under the carpet," said Mrs Hawkins.

"We have met so many families who have got dead babies and harmed mothers. I don't know how people can't understand that or address it."

She said she hoped the latest review, by NHS England, would make families finally feel listened to and believed.

"That would make such a massive difference," she said.

Figures obtained by the BBC have found that, between 2005/6 and 2020/21, there were a total of 207 claims against the hospital's maternity services, including 36 for cerebral palsy, 26 for stillbirths and 24 for brain damage.

The total amount awarded in damages for that period was more than £110m.

Ms Ockenden said she expected the review would take about 18 months and that it would officially start in September.

She said she would be working with a team of about 60 practising NHS maternity experts from across the country.

"Following on from the meetings with families [and] listening to their views on how the review should progress, what we will be using the summer months for is putting the building blocks in place," she said.

This will include the terms of reference for the review, she added.

"Families can feel assured they will be involved in the crafting of these terms of reference," she said.

"We will need access to hundreds of thousands of documents in order for us to form an opinion on what happens with maternity services at NUH and, importantly, to help NUH maternity services get better."

In 2021, an investigation found that dozens of babies had died or been left with serious injuries at the city's hospitals.

Ms Ockenden was approached by families in Nottingham after chairing a review into the deaths of more than 200 babies at Shrewsbury in what was the UK's biggest maternity scandal.

"Clearly, my team have vast experience of conducting a very successful maternity review and we will bring that experience with us," she said.

"But what is really important is that we come to Nottingham with fresh eyes.

"We know Nottingham is a very different maternity service - it has two big units at Queen's Medical Centre and at the City campus.

"I think that what we can bring is a real commitment to family voices being at the heart of everything we do."

She added that she aimed to share information with the trust as the review progressed.

"What is important is to help Nottingham maternity services improve as we proceed," she said.

"We owe it to current families and staff on the ground that we share in a timely way."

Director of Midwifery Sharon Wallis said: "We are truly sorry we failed Mr and Mrs Hawkins and baby Harriet in the care delivered in 2016.

"Our aim is to offer the best maternity care to the families using our services, and to do this we are committed to supporting the review team's work, which alongside the work of our own improvement team will ensure we do everything necessary to learn and improve."

For more on this story, listen to Verity Cowley's programme on BBC Radio Nottingham.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].