Health council ignored police details of deaths

Lives were “undoubtedly put at risk” when a health regulator ignored information supplied to it by the police about practising midwives, bereaved families have said.

The comments come after a “damning” report by the Professional Standards Authority was released about the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) handling of the cases of midwives involved in the Morecambe Bay scandal, where major care failures were linked to at least 12 deaths of mothers and babies at Furness General Hospital between 2004 and 2012.

The report reveals how the NMC failed to act on information provided by the police for almost two years.