Nottinghamshire Police will begin sharing information with the Ockenden Review as part of what has become the largest maternity investigation in the history of the NHS. The experiences of around 1,700 families dating back several years are being looked at as part of the independent review into the care of mothers and babies at the Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital.
The independent review is being led by experienced midwife and healthcare expert Donna Ockenden. On Monday (July 10) more than 100 people attended an annual public meeting held by Nottingham University Hospitals Trust.
Chair of the trust board Nick Carver made a statement on behalf of the board committing to a new, honest relationship with families. Chief Executive Anthony May said it was a “milestone” moment.
Is the government doing enough to help with the cost of living? Let us know
It was also revealed during Monday’s meeting that Nottinghamshire Police will speak to Ms Ockenden and pass on any relevant information to the review team. Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Kate Meynell attended the meeting.
It comes after the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and the trust have agreed to change the review from ‘opt-in’ to ‘opt-out’. This means the review will cover 1,700 cases and families will have to withdraw consent if they do not want their experiences to be examined.
Gary and Sarah Andrews daughter Wynter died in 2019 in what a coroner described as a “clear and obvious case of neglect”. The trust has been fined a record £800,000 over her death.
Mr Andrews asked Mr May and Mr Carver at the meeting: “Why is it left to yourselves to pick up the pieces of maternity failings in Nottingham when senior leaders, in our view, abandoned ship to avoid scrutiny?
“Will you condemn their failures today and do you feel there are lessons to be learned more widely about the accountability of senior leaders?” Mr May apologised for the harm caused to the Andrews family.
He added: “There are undoubtedly issues in any walk of life about transparency and accountability when things go wrong. What I hope we can do from now is to work with you and Donna and the CQC (Care Quality Commission) to identify any wrongdoing, past present or future, and to deal with it in an open and transparent way.
“If anything comes forward during the course of Donna’s review that she wants to bring to my attention, I know that she would not hold back in doing so.
“Our Chief Constable Kate Meynell is here today I know that Kate and Donna have arranged to speak to review anything that has come across Kate’s desk or her predecessor’s desk in relation to maternity in recent years.”
Ms Ockenden, told the meeting the trust’s problems “cannot be fixed overnight”. She reminded the public that “behind every number is a family who has suffered harm, often avoidable and life-changing harm, made worse by having to fight to be heard”.
