It is likely that the review into the failings in maternity care at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust will be the largest ever carried out in the UK, as NHS England confirmed on 8 July 2023 that all affected families’ care would be reviewed unless families opted out of the review.
This is a significant change to the review, which until now required affected families to request that their care was investigated and led to concerns that there may be a lack of representation across Nottinghamshire and neighbouring counties, such as Lincolnshire.
The standard of maternity care provided over the past decade by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust is being investigated by senior Midwife Donna Ockenden, after significant failings in maternity services were identified. The review started on 1 September 2022 and had initially been expected to take 18 months to be completed.
At a meeting on Monday, Donna Ockenden explained that 1,700 families’ cases would be examined.
She said, “my promise to you as families today is the same as the promise I made to you in September at the start of this review, that as a review team we will do all we can to ensure this review is one for all Nottinghamshire families.”
At CL Medilaw we support families in getting answers following poor maternity care and have assisted clients whose cases have been included within the Ockenden review at other Hospital Trusts. Andrew Cragg, Partner, specialising in obstetric claims based at our Lincoln office said: “we welcome the widening of this review to ensure that more families receive long awaited answers surrounding the care which they received and so that improvements in vital maternity services can be improved.”
If you have any concerns in relation to the care you or your child received at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust or at any other hospitals across the country, please contact us on 0345 2410 154 or enquiries@clmedilaw.co.uk for a free review of your claim.