Shropshire maternity probe 'could be expanded to cover 60 baby deaths'

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has released a robust response to claims that more than 60 babies and mothers are feared to have died or suffered serious. Boss Simon Wright said they were ‘misleading’ and causing ‘unnecessary anxiety’ among women preparing to give birth.

The claims are made in the Health Service Journal (HSJ), which says an inquiry looking at maternity issues in Shropshire has been widened.

An independent review into baby deaths at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust was launched last year at the request of Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

It came amid claims of a ‘cluster’ of nine deaths between September 2014 and May 2016, of which seven were avoidable, according to inquests. It later emerged that 12 cases over a 19-year period were being looked at.

Now it has been claimed the inquiry could be widened, to include up to 60 baby deaths, brain injuries and the deaths of four mothers.

A report in the HSJ says an inquiry being led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden could be expanded to reflect new concerns.

The latest deaths are feared to have happened in December 2017, when a mother and two babies died in unrelated incidents.

Ignored

Rhiannon Davies, whose daughter Kate died nine years ago, said: "Unlike what I was led to believe in 2009 Kate was not the first avoidable death at the trust. Yet no one bothered to learn and so sealed her fate - and mine, and that causes me almost unbearable pain."

"There are lots more cases now and all that learning could be lost because things will be missed."

Kayleigh Griffiths, whose daughter Pippa died in 2016 after midwives ignored signs of a serious infection, said the trust is "not open to change".

"There are going to be more cases as families are coming forward," she said.

An internal review has also been launched into maternity care at the trust.

And Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust today defended itself against the new claims.

Trust spokesman Richard Jones said: “We are aware of reports in the media claiming that more cases have been ‘uncovered’. This is factually incorrect and untrue.The reports cite the 23 cases which are currently being examined by the Secretary of State with the full cooperation of SaTH which are already in the public domain.

"The reports go on to talk about ‘40 cases’ identified in SaTH’s legacy review. This is inaccurate. We were initially asked to review 40 cases, which looked back over 19 years from 1998 to 2017. There were 16 families who came forward with questions about their care and another 24 who were put forward for SaTH to review by the independent midwife leading the Secretary of State enquiry.

Experts

“Of these 40, there were no signs of failure of care in 23 reviews and five families were not identifiable from the information available. We have written to the remaining 12 families to say there may be potential for further learning and to seek permission for their care to be reviewed by independent clinical experts to ensure any learning is identified.

“More recently, our maternity service has voluntarily used independent experts to reassure those families involved.”

Mr Wright, chief executive at SaTH, added: “The death of any baby is a terrible ordeal for any family. We take our responsibilities in reviewing these cases very seriously. To suggest that there are more cases which have not been revealed when this is simply untrue is irresponsible and scaremongering.

“This will cause unnecessary anxiety amongst women going through one of the most important times of their life and I would like to assure them that our maternity services are a safe environment with dedicated caring staff. If anyone has any concerns we would be happy to discuss them.”

Dr Kathy McLean, executive medical director and chief operating officer at NHS Improvement, said: "Our independent review will consider everything it can to ensure Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is equipped to learn from the previous failings in its maternity and neonatal services.

"This includes continuing to examine the 23 historical investigations identified in April 2017, as well as investigations that have been highlighted since then.

"Working with CQC and others, we will ensure the trust has the right support in place to continue to improve its services for patients."

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care told the Health Service Journal: “We take patient safety concerns extremely seriously.

"We have asked NHS Improvement to investigate whether further cases at Shrewsbury and Telford Trust should be considered as part of the Ockenden review, as well as assurance that the trust has taken steps to improve maternity services since these issues came to light in 2016.