Baby deaths investigators discover 500 more cases
AN INQUIRY into what has been called the NHS’ worst maternity scandal is to investigate hundreds more cases, bringing the total to more than 1,800.
The independent review of mother and baby deaths, led by Donna Ockenden, focuses on Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which includes the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
It was reported earlier this month that trust records unearthed more cases.
Yesterday the review team said a further search and a call for families to come forward had identified another 496 families.
West Mercia Police are also investigating some cases.
The investigations come after a leaked report showed a “toxic” culture stretching back 40 years when babies and mothers suffered avoidable death.
Children were left with permanent disability, staff routinely dismissed parents’ concerns and got names of dead babies wrong, referring to one as “it”.
In one case parents were not told their baby’s body had returned from the postmortem examination. It was left to decompose so badly the family never got to say a final goodbye. The next phase of the inquiry is to complete clinical reviews.
Ms Ockenden said: “It’s now really important that we focus our efforts on getting all clinical reviews completed so that we can make meaningful recommendations to improve services and give families the answers they have asked for.
“We intend to have initial, emerging recommendations for maternity services published at the end of the year.
“In order to give ourselves the time to write the final report, any new cases that come to light from now on will need to go directly to the trust rather than them coming to the maternity review team.”
Richard and Rhiannon Stanton-Davies’ daughter Kate died six hours after her birth. They and Kayleigh and Colin Griffiths, whose daughter Pippa died in 2016, led inquiry calls. It was commissioned by then health secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2017.
It was reviewing 23 cases but the probe was widened after more were identified by the Shropshire trust’s own inquiry.