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News Archive

November 2021

Publication of the second report of the Independent Maternity Review

The Review Team has been liaising with NHS England and Improvement and the Department of Health and Social Care and can now confirm that the second report of the Independent Maternity Review of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust will be published no later than 24 March 2022. 

The second report will build upon the work of the first report to ensure the Local Actions for Learning and Immediate and Essential Actions are strengthened and implemented at the Trust and across the wider maternity system in England. We have already seen some excellent progress and significant amounts of new funding for maternity services across England since the publication of the first report.

Thank you for your patience, an update on the precise date of publication will be provided as soon as possible.

November 2021

Mind the Gap 2021

We welcome the Mind the Gap 2021 report by Baby Lifeline which highlights how COVID-19 has impacted the provision of maternity care training, as well as how hospitals and trusts are struggling to implement NHS strategies to improve equity and equality in maternity care. It is clear that training provision across maternity services   remains a key area of concern.

Earlier this year the Government made a commitment to investing significant additional resources into maternity services. This is a huge stride in the right direction however, more still needs to be done. This report showcases where the gaps in multi professional maternity training remain. The report supports the wider NHS and all maternity services  in  understanding  where their investment and efforts need to be targeted to improve safety in  maternity services for all. 

Mind the Gap 2021 builds on Baby Life Life’s continued work to ensure every birth is safer and to achieve better outcomes for mothers and babies. Read more about Baby Lifeline’s  findings in the report here.

Mind the Gap 2021 2021 – Infographic

Read the full report (7mb)

November 2021

North Wales health board ‘We must learn from our mistakes’

 Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has said it must learn from its mistakes in the wake of a damning internal report.

The Holden Report concluded in 2013 that patients at Ysbyty Gwynedd’s Hergest psychiatric unit were put at risk, following a breakdown in relations between staff and managers, bullying accusations and low morale.

Whilst a redacted summary was released in 2015,  a fuller version was only finally published last week – following negotiations between the health board and the information commissioner, who agreed to omit staff names.

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November 2021

Public inquiry call over Nottingham trust’s maternity service

The BBC reports that a call has been made for a public inquiry into maternity services at Nottingham’s hospitals trust.

Sue Saddington, chairman of the county council’s health scrutiny committee, said she had put the request personally to the Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) is facing a review after reports 46 babies suffered brain damage and 19 were stillborn between 2010 and 2020. Ms Saddington said the issue needed “urgent attention”.

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November 2021

Public inquiry call over Nottingham trust’s maternity service

The BBC reports that a call has been made for a public inquiry into maternity services at Nottingham’s hospitals trust.

Sue Saddington, chairman of the county council’s health scrutiny committee, said she had put the request personally to the Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) is facing a review after reports 46 babies suffered brain damage and 19 were stillborn between 2010 and 2020. Ms Saddington said the issue needed “urgent attention”.

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November 2021

BCUHB’s chief acknowledges delay in publishing report into failings at mental health unit has caused ‘frustration’

A report considered to have wide public interest that documents failings at a mental health unit has finally been made public.

The Holden Report – which looked into the management of the Mental Health Clinical Programme Group in their dealings with the Hergest Unit and a variety of other issues relating to the Hergest Unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor – was written as a confidential report in December 2013.

Concerns aired included a lack of understanding from management that patients needs always come first, low staff morale, atmosphere of bullying and intimidation from senior managers, weaknesses in communication and high levels of occupancy and inadequate staffing.

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November 2021

Suppressed Holden Report reveals “chasm” between senior healh bosses and frontline ward staff 

A damning report about a mental health unit that a Betsi Cadwaladr health board kept under wraps for eight years has finally been published – years after Plaid Cymru first called for its release.

It reveals that 42 staff on Hergest Unit in Bangor complained about bullying and intimidation by senior management, lack of staff and poor care standards that were left unaddressed for years.

The whistleblowers came forward to make their complaints after a death on Hergest but practices were not changed sufficiently to prevent further deaths on the unit.

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November 2021

March for midwives protest to take place in Watford

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November 2021

Campaigners say ‘decolonise the curriculum’ to help solve UK maternity inequalities

The Independent reports that an increased risk of black and minority ethnic women dying during pregnancy needs to be seen as a whole system problem and not limited to just maternity departments, according to experts on an exclusive panel hosted by The Independent.

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November 2021

Some progress’ made at Shropshire hospital trust

The BBC reports that The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) in August.

The Trust has been in special measures since 2018 and its maternity services are subject of a review following a high rate of baby and maternal deaths.

The CQC said SaTH still had “significant work to do” to improve its patient care and safety standards.

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November 2021

Mental health: Damning report shows Ysbyty Gwynedd failings

The BBC reports that failings at a mental health unit has finally been made public – eight years after it was completed. In 2013, the Holden Report said a breakdown in staff and manager relations at Hergest Unit, Ysbyty Gwynedd, put patients at risk.

Amid a culture of bullying and low morale, patient safety concerns were not addressed.

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November 2021

Campaigners say ‘decolonise the curriculum’ to help solve UK maternity inequalities

The Independent reports that an increased risk of black and minority ethnic women dying during pregnancy needs to be seen as a whole system problem and not limited to just maternity departments, according to experts on an exclusive panel hosted by The Independent.

Read More

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