More than 500 mothers and babies ‘died or suffered avoidable harm’ at ‘toxic’ NHS trust

More than 500 mothers and babies died or were harmed due to ‘deeply embedded’ failures at a ‘toxic’ hospital trust, an inquiry into the NHS’s biggest ever maternity scandal has concluded.

More than 500 mothers and babies died or were harmed due to ‘deeply embedded’ failures at a ‘toxic’ hospital trust, an inquiry into the NHS’s biggest ever maternity scandal has concluded.

Bosses at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) knew there were serious issues in the department going back years but failed to take action over inadequate care, a report led by former midwife Donna Ockenden found.

Overall, 520 mothers and babies suffered ‘potentially avoidable’ harm or death, including 94 babies who were stillborn and 62 neonatal deaths.

Care failures ‘may have or substantially impacted on the outcome’ in six deaths of women.

Babies died from oxygen starvation, mismanaged labour, hospital-acquired infections and poor postnatal care delivered by midwives and doctors.

Sarah and Gary Andrews’ daughter Wynter died 23 minutes after being born in 2019.

NUH was fined £800,000 in 2023 after admitting failings in her care in a criminal prosecution.

Mrs Andrews, 41, said: ‘I think for us the Ockenden report is just the start of the journey for Nottingham and nationally.

‘We need to make sure that history isn’t repeated again. ‘All we’ve wanted from the beginning is that no other families have to endure what we have.’

Mr Andrews, 38, said the report is ‘a wake-up call to the NHS… that what’s gone on before cannot be allowed to continue’.

Sarah Hawkins, 43, whose baby Harriet died in 2016, told the BBC it was ‘soul-destroying’ to learn harm and death for families was potentially preventable.

The review also examined 17 babies and one adult who died and what happened to them after death.