Families have voiced “huge frustration” after publication of the final report into the biggest maternity scandal in the NHS was delayed for a second time.
The Ockenden review investigated 1,862 maternity cases at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS trust in which mothers and babies may have been harmed over almost 20 years, and was due to be published on 22 March, having been delayed from December.
This week senior midwife Donna Ockenden, who is leading the review, wrote to families to say publication had been delayed again due to “parliamentary processes” that still need to take place, and a new date has yet to be confirmed.
“It’s hugely frustrating. I can’t really articulate it, it just feels awful. We’ve had this date ahead of us, everyone’s lives are on hold and we’re holding our breath to finally get this report,” said Rhiannon Davies, whose daughter Kate Stanton-Davies died under the care of the trust shortly after she was born in 2009.
“People have booked time off work because emotionally it’s a huge thing. Treating the families like this, and treating Donna like this after all the work she’s done, it’s just disrespectful.”
Davies and her partner Richard Stanton have campaigned for the review for years alongside Kayleigh and Colin Griffiths, whose daughter Pippa died in 2016 after contracting an infection during birth.
In a written statement to parliament on Tuesday, the patient safety minister, Maria Caulfield, said the NHS is in the process of securing indemnity cover for potential legal action following the publication of the report.
Davies said many families were sceptical about the reasons behind the delay. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a very damning report and there are a lot of people squirming in positions of power at the moment. This delay will not prevent the truth from coming out, no matter what the reason is behind it,” Davies said.
“All the families have been, in effect, psyching ourselves up for what we would finally hear on that day,” said Charlotte Cheshire, whose 10-year-old son Adam was left with severe disabilities after staff failed to administer antibiotics for seven hours when he caught an infection during birth.
“All the families involved in this inquiry, either their children have died or they’ve been dreadfully injured and left disabled. These are big, emotional situations that we’re dealing with. This report has been years in the making, everyone has had time to make the arrangements that needed to be made.
“This delay leaves us angry, disappointed, upset and triggers the grief all over again.”
The review was commissioned by health secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2017 to examine an initial 23 cases. Ockenden’s interim report, published in December 2020, uncovered a pattern of failures at the trust, including a lethal reluctance to conduct caesarean sections and a tendency to blame mothers for problems.
“My son’s birthday is next week, he would have been seven. That’s seven years without a sorry from the hospital,” said Hayley Matthews, whose son Jack Burn died 11 hours after he was born in 2015.
“You want justice for your own, but you also want change. I can’t bring my son back, but hopefully this review will help other families, stop it from happening again. But until we see this report, everyone is in the dark.”
A spokesperson for the Ockenden review said: “We have been informed that a number of parliamentary processes are required before the final report can be published in parliament. The Department of Health and Social Care are working to have these arrangements in place so we can publish the report at the earliest opportunity. These parliamentary processes are completely beyond the control of the review team.”
A DHSC spokesperson said: “We are committed to getting the families the answers they deserve and our sympathies remain with all those affected. “We continue to work with the Ockenden review team and NHS England and NHS Improvement to ensure the final report is published at the earliest opportunity.”
