It has been reported that the Nottingham University Hospital (NUH) Annual Public Review Meeting took place on 10 July 2023, which included Chairman, Nick Carver, Chief Executive, Anthony May and Donna Ockenden who is leading the maternity review.  It is reported that many of the bereaved families who have been failed by the trust’s maternity services also attended.

Donna Ockenden reported that the maternity review which began in September 2022 would be the largest carried out in the UK, with 1700 families’ cases being examined. Initially 1,266 families were approached regarding the review of maternity services and asked to consent to participate. 674 families provided their consent to join the review. However, Donna Ockenden called for further radical review to ensure that women from all communities were being contacted by the Trust and that they felt confident to speak out and come forward regarding their experiences. The families had approached the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and asked that the Trust agree to change the review from “opt in” to “opt out”. The Trust contacted the families by letter on 8 July 2023 confirming that the review will now be dealt with on an opt out basis, meaning they will automatically be included in the review unless they expressly opt out.  

It is reported that Chairman, Nick Carver, acknowledged during the public meeting that more needed to be done to gain the trust of the families and communities and was said to be committed to working collaboratively to plan for an apology on behalf of the board that the families recognise as meaningful. He previously said that the Trust would publicly apologise to people who experienced poor maternity care at the trust. He addressed the meeting stating that “for too long we have not listened to women and families who have been affected by failings in our maternity services ”. He continued “this brick wall approach has caused additional pain and this must change ”.

It is reported that Donna Ockenden reassured families attending the review meeting of her promise made at the outset of the maternity review and added that some positive changes had been made to maternity services but the Trust had a long journey ahead of them. She continued that “changes would not be made overnight” .

The Chief Executive, Anthony May, is reported to have described the meeting as a very important milestone. He reported that they want to build a new relationship with families built on trust and transparency and try to understand how they can help improve things in the maternity services.

Gary and Sarah Andrews, represented by Senior Associate Georgina Peckett at Switalskis who sadly lost their daughter Wynter Andrews in 2019 as a result of negligent maternity care provided by NUH, were amongst families at the annual review. They stated that it was refreshing to hear the Trust’s approach of honesty and transparency in such an open forum. They emphasised how reliving the trauma of what happened to Wynter at each of these meetings is extremely hard and stated that actions will speak louder than words to demonstrate the intentions described by the Trust at the review meeting today. 

It is reported that a further apology was made to the families present at the public review meeting. However, it has been agreed to delay a meaningful public apology until the review is complete and the full extent of the outcome and findings are known. Anthony May stated last year a “full apology on behalf of the NUH board would be done on the family’s terms ”.

Mr May stated that NUH has made some improvements regarding equipment and staff training, adding that more doctors and midwives are in the pipeline. However, this seems to be a drop in the ocean compared to the other measures that need to be implemented to rebuild relationships and make sure that NUH maternity services provide a safer environment for families and babies

The review continues.