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Families still searching for answers despite Ockenden Report publication, say legal experts

Beth Heath

Hundreds of families are still searching for answers as to why they were repeatedly failed by maternity services in Shropshire, despite the publication of a major review into failings at Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals, legal experts said today.

The Ockenden Review published its full report on March 30, which identified 60 areas where improvements could be made at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust stating that there were “no excuses going forward”.

The investigation identified 201 cases of stillbirth and neonatal deaths that could have been avoided if better care had been provided.

Highlighted were the avoidable maternal deaths and brain-injured babies as a result of repeated failures in the quality of care and governance at the Trust throughout the period of the investigation into the standard of care, between 1998 and 2019, as well as worrying failures from external bodies to effectively investigate incidents and monitor the care provided.

It was found that false reassurances were given to families about the maternity services, despite repeated concerns being raised.

Beth Heath, head of clinical negligence at Lanyon Bowdler Solicitors, is assisting dozens of families with legal cases against the Trust, and said the report made for distressing reading.

“We wholeheartedly support the recommendations of the report and, on behalf of the many families we have assisted with claims of clinical negligence, can only hope this represents a turning point for maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals,” she said.

“Unfortunately, there are still unanswered questions for a lot of families. The Ockenden Review looked at cases involving 1,486 families and 1,592 cases where there were alleged failings in maternity care, limited to the period between 1999 and 2019 – and there are numerous cases outside the review

“The main aim of clinical negligence claims is to get answers to those questions about what went wrong. The most important thing for families who have been affected by poor standards of care is always to see that lessons have been learnt and meaningful change has led to real improvements.”

Beth added: “Following the interim report published by Donna Ockenden in December 2020, several urgent recommendations were made and there is concern that these recommendations are not being met.

“We are still seeing cases with the same issues arising.

“People need to be confident that standards are being raised in their local hospitals, and I hope this report will not be ignored, and that its recommendations will be acted upon urgently to improve the level of maternity services for patients and the medical staff.”

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