Findings of inadequate care – Further maternity failings in the NHS

Mothers are left distraught after significant findings of inadequate care resulting in injuries and  numerous stillbirths at Nottingham University Hospital Trust.

The Trust has now been issued a safety warning. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) have informed the trust they must make “immediate improvements” to maternity services, specifically referencing Nottingham City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre.

It was recently reported that Fiona Allinson, CQC’s Director of Operations, commented that a concern of theirs included staff not carrying out “observations on women to check their condition hadn’t deteriorated”.

There were also issues with midwives’ abilities to act responsively to women that were deteriorating. This boils down to a lack of correct qualifications, training, and experience.

Inspectors have thus far deduced that COVID-19 has had a direct impact on training new staff to an acceptable level, which has created serious, but avoidable problems within its maternity units and risked the lives of many.

The Trust has been under fire over the years with CQC demanding improvements be made, which has been happening, but not at a justifiable pace. In 2018, doctors and midwives wrote a letter to the trust board explaining that patient safety was in danger in the maternity unit due to staff shortages.

In 2020, CQC told the trust that staff were unable to keep women and babies safe. Both remain pressing concerns.

The Trust has recognised that it has “more to do” to protect vulnerable mothers and babies after a series of deaths and serious injuries as a result of basic checks not being carried out, staffing issues, and inconsistent record maintenance.

The trust will now be subject of an independent review headed by Donna Ockenden. Following her investigation into the Shropshire maternity scandals, Donna Ockenden has been appointed to lead a review into the Trust after years of failures and dozens of babies dying or being left brain-damaged due to negligence.

It was reported that Ms Ockenden has confirmed that her first priority is to engage with families and work with NHS England to make recommendations on the improvements needed.

Carol Cook, our head of Clinical Negligence comments:

“More and more hospitals are coming under further investigations and being rated inadequate.  In this instance the trust has been aware of failings for a number of years and on the face of it, appears to have failed to learn from past mistakes and to prevent the same happening again. This has resulted in severe injuries and death some of which I have little doubt could have been avoided”.

“I hope that the independent review is concluded quickly to allow the trust to implement measures to prevent any future harm”.

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