Calls to widen maternity unit deaths inquiry

A SCANDAL-HIT hospital trust faces calls for a wider inquiry into dozens of deaths at a maternity unit, it was reported last night.

The Government is already investigating Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust after Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary at the time, ordered an independent inquiry in 2017 into seven deaths at the unit.

The announcement prompted a further 16 cases to come forward, and Donna Ockenden, a senior midwife, was appointed to review all 23 cases.

The number of cases being examined is now said to have almost tripled to as high as 60, the Health Service Journal reported last night – including the deaths of four mothers. Families want Matt Hancock, the new Health Secretary, to widen the investigation.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We have asked NHS Improvement to investigate whether further cases at [the] trust should be considered as part of the Ockenden review, as well as assurance the trust has taken steps to improve maternity services since these issues came to light in 2016.”