Hope has returned that Donna Ockenden may still head up an independent review of Nottingham's troubled maternity services as her landmark work at another NHS trust comes to an end. Affected families retain their view Nottingham University Hospitals, which runs the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital, is itself "incapable of change".
There have been 34 known maternity investigations following adverse incidents at NUH since 2018, according to representatives of the families. They have involved three maternal deaths, 22 babies who faced potential severe brain injury, four neonatal deaths and five stillbirths.
The current review has seen 500 families speak out about the maternity services in the city and it came after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said its services had been "inadequate" in an inspection in 2020. In the latest development parents had been told on Wednesday, May 4 that Julie Dent CBE, the former chairwoman for the Devon Partnership NHS Trust who was selected to lead the ongoing review, had “for personal reasons, decided not to proceed as Chair of the Independent Review of maternity services as NUH".
