Star comment: Hospitals trust must aim higher

Those lessons are less likely to be learned if you are looking into your own conduct and practices, in effect a judge in your own cause.

The terms of reference have now been made public into the independent review of this affair, which has arisen following the intervention of the health secretary Jeremy Hunt.

It will be undertaken by “a multidisciplinary review team of independent external reviewers who will submit their findings to an independent review panel”.

Independent. External. These are words which will bring reassurance that this is not an inside job, and really will examine these cases in a forensic and thorough manner, and address whether they were properly investigated at the time.

Part of the remit includes considering “how the parents, patients, and families of patients were engaged with during these investigations”.

We already know how some of the parents feel about how they were treated. The thrust of the allegation is that the babies were failed and their deaths avoidable, that the parents were hurtfully shut out or ignored as they sought answers, and by failing to learn the lessons, further babies were put at risk.

These matters have resulted in much negative national publicity for the trust which gives the impression that it is particularly bad for baby deaths. However, it is only fair to point out that the trust says that its perinatal mortality rate is on a par with the rest of the country – in other words, it is no worse than anywhere else.That may not be a great recommendation, but things have to be seen in perspective.

It is only fair too to make the point that for every baby death, sad and tragic though that will always be, there will be cases in which the staff have performed medical miracles, given life and hope, and brought joy to worried parents.

The framework of this review is encouraging as it is taking on board all those things which need to be taken on board. The parents can speak for themselves on the matter, but on first sight it looks like something in which they can take confidence.

What has happened cannot be undone. There will always be babies that do not survive, and there will always be good people who make mistakes.

This review is to be welcomed as a mechanism for the trust to aim higher, and achieve excellence and best practice. Because being “no worse” than others is a miserable standard to accept.