More than 450 families and dozens of members of staff have now come forward to be part of a review of inadequate maternity services at Nottingham hospitals. A review into ‘maternity incidents, complaints and concerns’ at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust (NUH) was announced last year following a series of baby deaths and injuries at the Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital.
The local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS England are jointly leading the ‘thematic review’, which started in October 2021. And Healthcare watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reinspected maternity services at the hospital last month, having previously rated them ‘inadequate’.
It was revealed last month that the number of families who had come forward to be part of the CCG review had quadrupled in two weeks from 84 to 387. As of April 6, 461 families have come forward, the CCG told the Local Democracy Reporting Service – marking an increase of 74 families since March 22.
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The CCG said 68 staff from maternity services have also come forward. The review team said in March that the increase in families coming forward was “directly linked to social media advertising which encouraged families who wish to share their experience of maternity services to contact us through our website”.
But bereaved parents raised concerns that the review was not doing enough to encourage more families to take part six months into the process. As part of the review, data from complaints, incidents, investigations, compliments, board papers, committee reports and internal/external reviews are being analysed.
Feedback sessions for families are available over the phone or via video call, or alternatively, they can write about their experiences. The review will cover information dating back to 2006, and is expected to be complete on November 30 2022.
