Shropshire baby deaths prompts maternity training plan

Senior NHS neonatal and maternity staff across England are to get ‘leadership training’ to address the findings of an inquiry into the Shropshire baby deaths scandal.

The £500,000 programme, designed to combat a ‘disconnect between ward and board’ will involve the training of staff from 126 NHS trusts and 44 local maternity units.

The project, which will launch later this year, comes amid a probe into the maternity care of more than 1,800 families in Shropshire.

The recommendations of the inquiry to boost NHS maternity care emerged at the end of last year. A full report on the results of the Ockenden Review has been delayed due to its expanded cope.

Overseen by Donna Ockenden, chair of the Independent Maternity Review, the probe into Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust is investigating a total of 1,862 cases, including incidents of preventable infant fatalities.

In December 2020, Ms Ockenden highlighted a list of complaints about standards at the hospitals, which pointed to substandard care over two decades that had harmed dozens of women and their babies, along with instances of mothers being blamed for their baby’s deaths.

Announcing the training, the Department of Health and Social Care said that as well as forging stronger links between frontline staff and board members, it was also set to create greater collaborative working between midwives, doctors, nurses and obstetricians.

Chadwick Lawrence’s team of medical negligence lawyers have years of experience in high value and complex medical negligence compensation claims and have an excellent record. The team is led by Tony May, a specialist cerebral palsy and birth injury solicitor, who has over 20 years experience in handling cases in which babies have been brain damaged or sustained other injuries as a result of medical negligence. He and his team continue to represent many cerebral palsy children and young adults in medical negligence claims. Tony also acts as the Court of Protection Deputy for many of the cerebral palsy and brain damaged clients that he has represented, so we can continue to support you after your case is settled. Tony can be contacted by email on tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk. Alternatively, please call and speak to any of Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist medical negligence Legal Aid and no win, no fee solicitors for free legal advice on Freephone 0800 304 7382.