The report of the independent review led by Donna Ockenden of maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust has been published this morning.  

The review was commissioned in 2017 and has involved consideration of 1,592 clinical incidents involving 1,486 families receiving maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust.  

The review is the largest of its kind and has put a spotlight on maternity services not only at this particular trust but in maternity services across the country. The review has identified significant and repeated failures in the maternity care provided to mothers and their babies resulting in serious injury and unfortunately on many occasions leading to death. Concerningly, the review highlighted how the trust failed to investigate such failings and as such there was a failure to learn from such incidents to avoid harm occurring in the future. The review has called for urgent action to improve maternity services at this particular trust but also across all maternity services in England.

The review makes for very difficult and upsetting reading. It is hard to comprehend that so many families have been failed so significantly at a point in their lives that should be one of their happiest moments. It is extremely saddening to read that in many cases the deaths and serious injuries caused to mothers and babies could have been avoided. It is clear that this has not been an easy process in participating in the review with Ms Ockenden and her team and I would strongly echo the comments made by Ms Ockenden of the bravery and tenacity of those families in bringing about this review. It can only be hoped that the review leads to significant changes in maternity services across England and that the incidents which Ms Ockenden has considered in detail as part of her review are not repeated.

We act on behalf of a number of families who have concerns in relation to the maternity care that was provided not only by the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust but unfortunately across a number of trusts. We acknowledge that taking the first step in speaking to a solicitor is not an easy one to take, but if you have any concerns in relation to the maternity services that you or a loved one have been provided with then please do contact us.