Inspectors widen review into troubled NHS maternity unit where dozens of babies and mothers are feared to have died needlessly for the THIRD time as 215 families have now come forward
- Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust is the subject of a major probe by inspectors
- The trust was last week placed into special measures after recommendations
- When the review started last year, it was only examining 23 incidents
A review into a scandal-hit maternity unit has been widened to include more than 200 families.
Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust is the subject of a major probe over concerns that dozens of babies and mothers died needlessly.
The trust was last week placed into special measures following recommendations from the watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it was taking action at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust following inspections at its maternity and emergency departments
When the review, led by senior independent midwife Donna Ockenden, started last year, it was examining only 23 incidents.
The review, dating between 1998 and 2017, was widened for the first time in August, with 40 alleged cases of maternal failings.
But in September it emerged the review – initially meant to report back this autumn – involved at least 104 families whose cases span 20 years.
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And now 215 families have come forward alleging maternity errors in the hands of the trust, most of which are related to death or serious harm.
Matt Hancock, Health and Social Care Secretary, said all ‘potential’ cases should be looked at, when asked about the situation in September.
Mr Hancock took over in July from his predecessor Jeremy Hunt – who launched the initial review into the troubled maternity unit.
Dr Kathy McLean, from NHS Improvement, which is overseeing the review, also said every case will be reviewed, BBC reports.
She said: ‘Every possible case has and will be taken into account as part of the investigation, to help ensure that lessons are learnt.’
A number of families say their babies died needlessly because midwives missed treatable infections or complications.
Other women claim they were forced to have natural labours without the use of caesareans or forceps.
Approximately 5,000 women a year give birth in the trust’s maternity services, which include a main department and five smaller midwife-led units.
A damning report published in July found the units to be severely understaffed with an average of five midwives off sick each day.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists warned of a reluctance among managers to investigate errors or learn from their mistakes.
‘I was crying out for a caesarean’
A baby was left with a huge bruise on his head after he became trapped in his mother’s pelvis at one of the scandal-hit maternity wards.
Amy Butler, 25, said a consultant used forceps to yank her son during her delivery in August 2016, leaving his head marked and swollen.
She also claimed midwives mistakenly left her fully dilated for five hours, leaving her baby at risk of serious brain damage and herself in agony.
Miss Butler begged medical staff for a C-section during her seven-hour ordeal at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford but was told a natural birth was best.
Miss Butler, from Telford, said: ‘I am absolutely disgusted. I was crying out for a C-section but the midwives told me I was perfectly fine to go into labour.
‘Bradley got stuck in the pelvis and suffered a terrible bruise. His swelling was so severe it came over his eyes. Thankfully, he didn’t suffer any major problems but it could have been worse.
‘The midwives didn’t realise I was fully dilated for five hours, which is dangerous. I’ve got a gut feeling that if I wasn’t left dilated for that long then Bradley wouldn’t have got stuck in the pelvis.
‘I thought nothing of it before I read other parents’ stories in the Daily Mail.
‘Bradley was very slow developing. He’s just turned two and he’s only been walking for a month-and-a-half. He couldn’t sit up until he was ten months old.’
A spokesman for the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said: ‘We have received no formal complaint in this matter. We would be happy to discuss this with Miss Butler.’
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