Shropshire maternity scandal: Review appealing for staff to come forward
They want to hear from current and former staff
A review into maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) wants to hear from current and former staff.
The independent inquiry was set up in 2017 by the then Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and is reviewing 1,862 families' experiences of care.
It is the largest number of clinical reviews undertaken relating to a single service, as part of an inquiry, in the history of the NHS.
It's led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden who says her review team now wanted to hear the views of staff, past and present, going back to 2000.
She is keen to "understand from current and former staff their experiences of what it was like to work in the trust's maternity services''.
Any responses will be treated confidentially, kept within the review team, with no staff, either past or present, identified in any final report, which is expected to be published by the end of the year.
Ms Ockenden, who chairs the review, said:
"It is very important that staff voices are heard as part of our review as this will really help our understanding of maternity services during this time period.
"Any former members of staff who were employed to work directly in the maternity services at the trust and current staff can take part in this survey.
"This can include but is not limited to doctors, midwives, anaesthetists, obstetricians, nurses, support workers, administrators, theatre staff, porters and managers.
"There will also be an opportunity for some staff to participate in more detailed confidential conversations with review team members if they wish to.''
Ms Ockenden's report, in December last year, identified 27 local actions for learning for the SaTH, which are essential improvements aimed at boosting patient safety, and seven other key actions for both the trust and maternity services, nationally.
SaTH set up a panel to monitor improvement progress in March, 2021.
That same month, NHS England committed to investing £95 million in maternity care, nationally, to strengthen workforce numbers, training and development programmes to support culture and leadership, as well as bolstering board assurance and surveillance to identify issues earlier.
Ms Ockenden said her team were now focusing on the completing clinical reviews to enable the next report to be published.
Hear all the latest news from across the West Midlands on the hour, every hour, on 103.1 and 97.2FM (Wolverhampton, Black Country and Shropshire), 96.4FM (Birmingham), 97 and 102.9FM (Coventry and Warwickshire), 97.6FM, 102.8FM and 96.7FM (Herefordshire and Worcestershire), DAB, at freeradio.co.uk, and on the Free Radio app.