Nottingham maternity families face a brick wall, review team told

Families have told a senior midwife who is leading a review into failings at a city's NHS maternity units there is a "brick wall" when communicating with a hospital trust.

Donna Ockenden is examining how dozens of babies died or were injured at the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) trust.

She met the trust at a formal meeting on Thursday.

NUH said it would make "necessary and sustainable improvements".

Ms Ockenden previously led an inquiry into the UK's biggest maternity scandal at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust.

She met the chief executive of NUH, Anthony May, and other members of the trust's executive team.

Ms Ockenden said the meeting had been "positive".

"Families are still saying to me that they have felt very recently, that there is a brick wall with the trust - that they're not able to get their concerns heard - these are families within the past six months," she said.

"The communication is often not timely enough. We specifically talked about how the trust is going to look at improving the way that they engage with families when something's gone wrong.

"So the trust listened very carefully and by the next meeting they're going to have fed back to us how they're going to look at improving communication with families."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in the House of Commons that more must be done to improve maternity care, after hearing from an MP about a baby who died at the trust.

Mr Sunak expressed condolences and said: "We want to make sure that the NHS is the best and safest place in the world to give birth, and the NHS has taken steps to improve.

"But... more must be done."

He outlined the steps being taken in Nottingham and nationally, saying: "But my honourable friend is absolutely right, when situations like this do arise, transparency is paramount so we can seek answers and make improvements."

According to latest figures, 949 families have contacted the review, while the total number of staff stands at 411.

When the review launched, in September 2022, Ms Ockenden said she expected it would take about 18 months.

In December 2020, the trust's maternity services were rated inadequate with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) finding "several serious concerns".

Anthony May, chief executive at the trust, said: "We are committed to making the necessary and sustainable improvements to our maternity services and continue to engage fully and openly with Donna Ockenden and her team on their independent review.

"We are not waiting for the review to conclude before making changes and our staff have been working hard to make the necessary improvements now.

"Crucial to these improvements is ensuring that family voices are heard and we are encouraging people who have significant or serious concerns about their maternity care to contact the review team.

"We are also encouraging current and former staff who work directly in or closely with our maternity services, to come forward and engage with the review.

"We know that this is an unsettling time for women and families using our maternity services. Local women and families can be confident that the teams responsible for their care are totally committed to providing the safest and best experience possible.

"If you have any questions about your care, please speak to your midwife or consultant."

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