Shropshire MP says 'anger isn't enough' to improve maternity units after damning review
Helen Morgan spoke after senior midwife Donna Ockenden reviewed failures at another hospital trust
A Shropshire MP has warned “anger isn’t enough” to improve the experiences women and their families have at maternity units after a review found failings at another hospital.
An inquiry, led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, has found that more than 500 mothers and babies suffered potentially avoidable harm or died due to “deeply embedded systemic failures” at a “toxic” hospital at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH).
Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrats’ health spokeswoman whose North Shropshire constituency is served by the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust which Donna Ockenden has previously reviewed, told MPs: “I am distressed and I am angry to be stood here once again, speaking about babies who should not have lost their lives and mothers who should have not lost their lives, and trauma that families should not have experienced.
“Review after review has led to 748 recommendations since 2015 but birth injury and mortality rates have continued to rise. These reviews all reveal similar issues – unsafe staffing levels, lessons not learned, issues not escalated, insufficient training and women’s concerns ignored.”
Ms Morgan asked: “Will the Secretary of State pledge to implement every single one of the Nottingham report’s essential actions and work with us to deliver the essential investment we need to make Britain a safe place to have a baby and end this shocking cycle of failure, because anger isn’t enough?”
Responding, Health Secretary James Murray told the Commons: “She sums up a feeling I think many of us have of the cycle of inquiries, investigations, revealing what has been happening in maternity services, leading to recommendations which are accepted but then things don’t change enough.”
Mr Murray later said: “That is the cycle that we need to break.”
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