Bereaved parents who are campaigning for improvements at Nottingham hospital maternity services have called for more families to contact an ongoing review.
More than 900 families and 400 current and former members of staff have contacted Donna Ockenden, who is chairing an independent review into Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH). But the senior midwife, who led a previous review into Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, urged more affected families to come forward.
"I'm sure there will be more of you who have concerns but haven't felt able to write or call in yet," she said. "Together we can all help to make maternity care safer for all those who need it, now and in the future."
Read more: Hundreds more families to receive letter as part of 'huge' Nottingham maternity review
Among the parents backing the appeal is Sarah Andrews, mother of Wynter who died just 23 minutes after being born due to a series of failings at Queen's Medical Centre in 2019. NUH was last month fined £800k over Wynter's death.
"I have the confidence that [Ms Ockenden] will ensure that changes are made and no other families will have to go through the heartbreak that we have," said Ms Andrews. "If you have concerns about what you suffered shouldn't have happened, then you're not alone.
"You should speak out, speak to Donna and help change to happen - because that's what we need now." Also voicing her support was Emmie Studencki, whose son, Quinn, died two days after being born at City Hospital in 2021.
"We knew that we could trust her [Ms Ockenden] with our traumas and she will treat us with dignity and respect," she said. As a harmed family by Nottingham University Hospital Trust, if you received a letter to partake in Donna's investigation, I would urge you to opt in."
On a recent visit to Nottingham, Ms Ockenden met with families, as well as separately with senior members of NUH, where she fed back early learnings from the review. She reported that many families felt like they still faced a "brick wall" when trying to communicate with the trust.
NUH chief executive Anthony May, who was at the meeting, said that the 'brick wall' was beginning to break down. "I invited the families to come and meet with me if they wanted to tell me their stories and they've been doing that," he said.
"I've been meeting with families, so I think that brick wall is gradually starting to break down. The conversations I've had with families have been a privilege because it's been incredibly moving to hear their stories and I've learnt a lot from it. I think it has helped remove the feeling that we're not listening because we absolutely are."
The Shrewsbury and Telford review covered cases from more than 40 years, from 1973 to 2020, whereas the Nottingham review will investigate cases from 2012 onwards.
It comes after reports that dozens of babies had died, were left with serious injuries or brain damage due to the care they received at Nottingham’s City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre. NUH's maternity services at both of the aforementioned hospitals remain as having been rated 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission.
Families wishing to contact the review can do so by emailing nottsreview@donnaockenden.com or by filling out an online form here
Staff can contact the review and give an anonymous account by emailing staffvoices@donnaockenden.com
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