Officials from Nottingham University Hospitals [NUH] have given an update after the trust's media boss was suspended for blocking bereaved parents on Twitter. Parents involved in the review into maternity care at NUH expressed concern and confusion after they were blocked by the trust's communications boss Tiffany Jones.
Ms Jones issued an apology on the social media platform, saying: "I apologise wholeheartedly for the upset my decision to block some individuals from my personal Twitter account may have unintentionally caused."
She then deleted her profile. Her profile had 2,419 followers and her bio read: "Director of Communications & Engagement @nottmhospitals / @teamNUH." It's not clear why or when the parents were blocked.
Read more: Nottingham maternity review hope as Donna Ockenden meets families for first time
The parents of babies who had died while in the care of NUH's "inadequate" maternity services said her actions were "confusing and wrong". Shortly afterwards the trust then announced Ms Jones had been suspended.
According to NUH, a suspension means an employee is placed under a temporary measure whereby they cannot carry out their duties or attend the place of work. They remain on full-pay, however.
A suspension is not a "disciplinary action" and there is no assumption of guilt, the trust's conduct, behaviour and disciplinary policy says. But it is only given by the trust if there has been a "serious allegation of misconduct".
An investigation will take place to gather the facts. In an update as of August 23 an NUH spokesman added: "She is suspended pending normal HR processes." Senior midwife Donna Ockenden, who uncovered 200 avoidable baby deaths at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust across two decades, was appointed in May to head the inquiry into the services at Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital after families called for her to lead the review.
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