Police investigation looms over what could become the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history

Police need to speak to the midwife leading the review of what could become the biggest pregnancy scandal in NHS history.

Nottinghamshire Chief Constable Kate Meynell attended a public meeting yesterday where it was said she had promised to review cases – paving the way for a possible criminal investigation.

It comes after it was announced that the infant mortality inquiry at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust will be the largest ever conducted in the UK, with 1,700 cases now under investigation.

Dozens of babies died or were left with serious injuries in maternity wards at Queen’s Medical Center and City Hospital.

Relatives then had to deal with a battle for answers from the hospital, which they believed lacked transparency.

It comes after it was announced that the infant mortality inquiry at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust will be the largest ever conducted in the UK, with 1,700 cases now under investigation. Dozens of babies died or were left with serious injuries in maternity wards at Queen’s Medical Center and City Hospital (pictured)

The inquiry is led by Donna Ockenden, the midwifery expert whose report on the scandal at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust found that failures had led to more than 200 baby deaths. About 1,500 families had their cases investigated.

Nottingham has accepted that the maternity care was unsafe and has paid nearly £90 million in compensation.

The claims covered dozens of deaths, stillbirths and 46 cases of babies with brain damage after mistakes.

Ms Ockenden began her review in September 2022. At a meeting yesterday, she said about 1,700 cases will be investigated.

Some families cried when Mrs Ockenden promised to do “all I can” to make sure no one else suffers the same damage.

She told the audience that behind the numbers are mothers and babies who have suffered harm — “often avoidable, life-changing harm made worse by having to fight to be heard.”

She said: ‘I know there are local families who are struggling to provide 24-hour care for babies who are severely brain-damaged.

“I’ve heard of a mom whose baby is so bad she regularly wonders, ‘Would it have been better if my baby had died?’

“I know there are families who never brought their babies home, or babies who did come home but died soon after.

“I know there are little boys and girls in Nottinghamshire today without their mums as we all celebrate the end of the school year.”

The trust intended to apologize to the families (such as Sarah and Jack Hawkins, with their daughter Lottie (photo of the family), who lost their daughter Harriet in childbirth in 2016 due to shortcomings within the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust), but those affected said it would be ‘more meaningful’ if it comes after recommendations from Ms Ockenden’s assessment are taken into account

Anthony May, head of the trust, who took office last September, said: ‘Since I have been on the trust I have made a commitment to all the families affected by these tragic events that I will listen to them.

“Some of the stories I’ve heard will no doubt stay with me for a very long time, but they pale in comparison to the pain these families endured.”

The trust had planned to apologize to the families, but those affected said it would be “more meaningful” if the recommendations from Ms Ockenden’s assessment were taken into account.

Nick Carver, NUH’s chairman since February 2022, said it has “failed” families and the community in the past.

Gary Andrews, whose daughter Wynter died 23 minutes after being born at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Center in 2019, asked Mr May and Mr Carver: ‘Why are you left to pick up the pieces… in Nottingham, when senior leaders in according to us abandon ship to avoid scrutiny?’