Tory ministers were “asleep at the wheel”, in relation to maternity safety and “ didn’t put the effort into” improving care in the sector, a senior midwife has said. Donna Ockenden , chair of the inquiry into maternity failings in Nottingham, also backed calls for NHS managers to be professionally regulated, amid failings to address safety concerns. The inquiry was launched after The Independent exposed more than 60 cases of harm by Nottingham University Hospital Foundation Trust.
In an update to the investigation, given on Wednesday, Ms Ockenden said the inquiry is looking at more than 1,941 cases of potential harm and death to babies and mothers between 2012 and 2025. Ms Ockenden also led an inquiry into maternity failings at Shrewsbury Hospital which found more than 200 babies and nine mothers died due to poor maternity care between 2000 and 2019. Commenting on the Conservative government’s role in maternity failings, Ms Ockenden said: “We published the Shrewsbury and Telford review March 2022, with a number of immediately essential actions.
“I was grateful for the time that Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid gave to me in the run up to that review, and the fact that the government and Sajid Javid fully endorsed all of the immediate essential action and he said they would be put in place swiftly. “Fast forward another two years, and they haven't been put in place swiftly at all. Some progress has been made, but my phrase falling asleep at the wheel is that the g.