Statements from bereaved and harmed families on the Ockenden Maternity Report

Scala supported bereaved and harmed families in Nottingham, Leeds and Sussex in preparing and distributing their statements following the publication of the Ockenden Maternity Review.

Statement from the Nottingham Maternity Family Group

After a relentless and, at times almost unbearable, ten-year campaign, it is with a profound sadness and deep sense of anger we learn the true scale and extent of the maternity scandal at Nottingham University Hospitals.

Donna Ockenden and her Review team have laid bare unsafe practices, cultural failings, racism, and abhorrent leadership that, over many years, resulting in avoidable maternal and baby deaths, stillbirths, life-changing injuries, and profound psychological harm to mothers and birth partners.

It feels like there is no aspect of maternity and neonatal services that has come out of this review unscathed.

Some of the themes identified in the report are ones that we, the campaign families, have direct and personal experience of. Our concerns were dismissed and not acted upon; we weren’t told the truth about what happened; even after death babies were treated with an absence of dignity and NUH frequently failed to keep our loved ones safe.

We never wanted to become campaigners. We are victims who became campaigners because those responsible for keeping mothers and babies safe failed to listen.

The report findings and actions that Donna and her team say must happen, must be treated with the utmost seriousness and implemented in full. Anything less would be a betrayal of the families whose suffering has made this review necessary.

This thorough report is the culmination of nearly four-years’ worth of work by a team of 200 + medical specialists, comprising experts including neonatologists, obstetricians, fetal medicine specialists and midwives. It’s evidence-based and expert-led. It doesn’t need to be considered; it simply needs to be actioned.

We want to speak directly to the staff of the Trust.

We are horrified by what some of you have shared during the review. We recognise that some of you have been expected to work in a constant state of crisis, within a culture where bullying, intimidation, and the fear of speaking up has too often felt normal. We believe that you must be properly supported, valued, and empowered to provide the safe, compassionate care that future parents in Nottingham deserve.

The fact that a significant number of senior staff chose not to participate in this review is appalling. You have demonstrated that maternity safety doesn’t matter to you, but self-preservation does. Your failure to engage constructively and with candour in this review process is further proof you are unfit to keep mothers and babies safe. Questions need to be asked by senior leaders and regulators whether you are fit to work for our NHS.

A culture that resists scrutiny and accountability lies at the heart of many of the failings identified at the Trust, and it must change if meaningful improvement is to be achieved.

We know that the problems are not unique to Nottingham, and the time has come for there to be a statutory public inquiry into maternity and neonatal services across England. This is because safe care can only be consistently delivered when the full truth is known. Every family affected by failures in care deserves the truth and accountability. We urge the Prime Minister to establish such an inquiry without delay.

We must thank the former Health Secretary, Rt Hon Sajid Javid, for commissioning this review back in 2022. Thank you for listening to us and acting.

We are profoundly grateful to family and staff who came forward to share their experiences, and to the journalists whose investigations helped shine a light on what was happening behind closed doors. Together we have been instrumental in exposing the largest maternity scandal in NHS history. It should never have fallen to us to uncover the truth and force action. The responsibility for protecting patients belongs to Trust leaders, regulators and government, and what happens next lies firmly with them.

Thank you to Donna and her team who have pursued the truth with compassion, determination and integrity. You have been there for families who have invariably felt ignored or dismissed. To you we are not numbers on a page; we are people whose lives have been irrevocably altered. Your hard work has made us feel vindicated.

And finally, to Donna: The Nottingham families are deeply grateful to you for the kindness, respect and genuine care you have shown throughout this process. You understand that behind every statistic is a child or mother who should be here, a mum, dad and sibling whose lives have been forever changed, and who are living with unimaginable loss or lifelong consequences; and we 

Statement from the Leeds Maternity Families Group