More accountability needed for maternity scandal ‘cover-ups’, say families

Families in the largest NHS maternity review ever undertaken say that more accountability needs to be taken for alleged “cover-ups” by a hospital trust.

Speaking at a Nottingham University Hospitals Trust (NUHT) public meeting on Wednesday, chief executive Anthony May said that “mistakes” had been made and promised to issue a formal apology to families affected.

He said this will be issued after former senior midwife Donna Ockenden has published her review which is examining the experiences of 1,941 families who say they have experienced poor maternity care.

Mr May said: “I have never sought to prioritise the reputation of the trust over our willingness to admit mistakes.

“One of the things we’re committing to today is a meaningful apology, and by that we mean one that’s co-produced with the families, and we will work on that over the next year so it coincides with the publication of Donna’s report.”

But families involved in Ms Ockenden’s review, which began two years ago, say they want more direct accountability.

Dr Jack and Sarah Hawkins, who both used to work for the trust until their daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016, have been campaigning to expose systemic failures at NUHT ever since.

Mrs Hawkins said she felt “resentful” that staff involved in their care, where Harriet’s death was later found to be “preventable”, were still employed by the trust.

She said: “To be blamed, gaslighted, everything – awful. I’m resentful that those people are practising with no sanction, and their children are alive.

“At every avenue we were pushed into the corner and silenced. It’s been horrific.

“It could have been so different if they would have held their hands up at the start and said ‘we are really sorry we messed up’.”

Dr Hawkins added: “We don’t see how they can be successful in providing safe maternity care, when the same people who caused unsafe maternity care and tried to minimise it, or even cover it up, are still in employment without anything happening.”

Dr and Mrs Hawkins said they feel “very confident” calling what happened at NUHT a “cover-up”.

Felicity Benyon said there needs to be accountability for the staff who she claims “lied” to her about her care.

She had her bladder accidentally removed during a Caesarian at Queen’s Medical Centre in 2015 and was originally told that nothing had been done wrong.

She said: “There needs to be repercussions for those people who knew there was a problem and didn’t do anything about it. They have waited until we have had to fight as families.

“Without accountability, the people who have done wrong – what impetus have they got to stop doing wrong?

“People who have covered this up have actively lied to families and lied to the press and said ‘this is in the past, this isn’t happening’.”

Natalie Needham, who raised concerns at City Hospital about her baby Kouper before he died, said accountability for her means dismissing, disciplining or re-training staff.

She said: “Accountability starts at speaking to the individuals on an individual basis, not as a whole. Taking the individuals, pinpointing where they have gone wrong, what they’ve done wrong and holding them accountable for it.”

Ms Ockenden said: “We can’t turn the clock back, we cannot magic away what has happened to them.

“All trusts should be accountable for the care they provide.

“If issues are highlighted by either families or the review team that need actioning in the here and now, I am confident that the trust will do that.”