No decision on Shropshire baby cases until after the election
Parents who want the review of their child's death included in an investigation into the county's major hospitals must wait until after the general election for a decision.
The Department of Health has confirmed that a decision on whether to ask NHS Improvement to look at the quality of investigations into the avoidable deaths of other babies will be one for the Health Secretary and the new government, after the June 8 election.
It comes after solicitors revealed that they have been contacted by a number of parents who want their child's case to be considered as part of a review ordered by Jeremy Hunt last month.
The NHS improvement review into the avoidable deaths at Shrewsbury & Telford Hospitals NHS Trust is looking at "the quality of the investigations and subsequent reports into the identified cohort of incidents", and will "identify whether the investigations appropriately addressed the relevant concerns and issues from those incidents".
It will also be asked to find out if recommendations were accepted and appropriate actions were taken on findings relating the the deaths.
It was sparked by a letter to Mr Hunt from Shropshire parents Rhiannon Davies and Richard Stanton, and Kayleigh and Colin Griffiths, requesting an inquiry into maternity services at SATH.
Mr Hunt stopped short of ordering a full inquiry but said that nine cases of avoidable deaths at the trust should be reviewed to establish whether they had been investigated properly.
The trust was the subject of a damning report relating to the death of Mrs Davies and Mr Stanton's daughter Kate, while an inquest ruled that the death of Mr and Mrs Griffiths' daughter, Pippa, could have been prevented.
Ms Davies said that NHS Improvement must investigate all cases of concern.
She said: "Our letter to the Secretary of State included only those families whose bravery had meant their stories were in the public domain and therefore able to be researched by Kayleigh and me."
"Since the BBC took up the story and did their own in depth research they've uncovered more cases.
"Since they broke the story and it's been extended by the Shropshire Star, the Mirror, Sky, the Guardian and Times to name but a handful of the news outlets who've covered the unfolding scandalous tragedy, many more families have approached us, the Griffiths', Lanyon Bowdler, the Mirror and the BBC."
She added: "If the other families devastated by SATH are not afforded the same opportunity to have their cases effectively reviewed then the Department of Health may as well not even investigate those we originally highlighted.
"Without full independent scrutiny of what's gone on for the last decade nothing will change."
