Shropshire Star

Shropshire maternity review looking at 250 cases

More than 250 cases are now being looked at by the review into maternity services at Shropshire’s major hospitals.

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The team behind the review of maternity care at Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust has written to parents involved to confirm that it is making good progress and is now of a “significant size”.

Donna Ockenden, the expert appointed to lead the inquiry, said her team had now expanded to take in more than 20 experienced and respected midwives and doctors.

The review was set up by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2017.

He ordered the inquiry after a request from Rhiannon Davies and her husband Richard, whose daughter Kate died after avoidable errors at the hospital trust, and Kayleigh Griffiths, whose daughter Pippa also died following avoidable errors at the trust.

Initially the review was looking at around 23 cases but now, in a letter to families affected, Ms Ockenden has confirmed the scope of its investigations.

She wrote: “Our work is continuing, and we are making good progress. The review itself is of a very significant size – with more than 250 families’ cases now making up the cases under review.”

Only last week NHS Improvement, which set up the inquiry, was forced to shelve its plans for a panel to review the findings over concerns from families about the potential to cover up failings.

Ms Ockenden said: “The team includes midwives, neonatologists, obstetricians, paediatricians and specialists in women’s health, anaesthetics, ambulance and infection prevention.

"None of the reviewers on the team have worked at the trust so they all therefore bring completely independent insight.”

She also confirmed that the review has met with 50 affected families so far but could not give a timescale for completion.

She said her team understood that “many families have suffered terribly over many years”, and is focussed on finding the truth.

She wrote: "As chair of this important review I know that the entire team is absolutely committed to working together and pooling their years of experience in a ‘search for the truth.’ We are progressing well in considering thousands of pages of documentation, and have met more than 50 families face to face so far.

"We are acutely aware that many families have waited a very long time to receive answers relating to their individual cases, and that many families have suffered terribly over many years. It is therefore so important that the maternity review team is given the time needed to undertake this vitally important piece of work.

"We cannot yet give a timescale for completion. As the review has grown so considerably in size, completion is likely to be the end of the year."

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