Hundreds more Shropshire maternity cases to be looked at in review
Hundreds more cases of poor care could be looked at by a review into maternity services at Shopshire’s major hospitals, according to reports.
NHS Improvement has confirmed that it has asked Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust for information to find out if more cases should be examined as part of a review of maternity services being carried out by Donna Ockenden.
The review, which was ordered by the then health secretary Jeremy Hunt in April 2017, was already reportedly looking at around 200 cases of poor care.
Reports in the national media indicate there could be as many as 300 more cases which will now have to be assessed.
The review was sparked by Richard and Rhiannon Stanton Davies writing to the Health Secretary to outline concerns over 23 instances of poor care, and a “cluster” of nine baby deaths at the trust. Their daughter Kate, died as a result of avoidable errors after being delivered at Ludlow Hospital in 2009.
Speaking after the latest developments in the scope of the review were revealed, Mrs Stanton-Davies said she welcomed the efforts to ensure all instances of poor care were examined, and said that it was vital in getting to the truth over the state of the service.
She said: “It is vital Donna Ockenden is given the support from the Department of Health to be able to do the review, which will need more resources.”
Speaking about the latest developments an NHS Improvement spokesperson said: “As part of the independent Ockenden review, the trust was requested to share all potentially relevant information relating to maternity to establish if any more cases should be included in this investigation so that all families are given the answers they need and lessons are learned.”
