Calls for police investigation into Nottingham maternity deaths

Families who lost loved ones because of failings in maternity care at Nottingham's hospitals have said they want to see a police investigations into the deaths.

It has been a year since the Ockenden Review into failings at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust began and whilst families have told ITV News Central they are pleased with the work the Chair Donna Ockenden is doing, they say they want to see more accountability.

Sarah and Jack Hawkins' daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016. They say the police should be investigating staff at the Trust.

Sarah told ITV News Central: "We're here serving a life sentence because our daughter is dead, like many other families in Nottingham.

"The clinicians who failed us, the managers who failed us have not been held to account, they're fully working, and in any other walk of life, if hundreds of babies were being killed and mothers being harmed, action would be taken."

Donna Ockenden is meeting with the Chief of Nottinghamshire Police next week for what she calls 'exploratory conversations' but said that it wasn't for her to decide whether or not the police investigate.

She did reassure families though that if she or her team found information they thought needed to be passed onto officers, then they would.

Nottinghamshire Police has said it is too early to comment.

In the year since the review began, the number of cases being looked at by the 90-strong team has increased to around 1800.

Initially people were invited to come forward to the review team, but now an 'opt-out' system is in place, where all cases the team feel need to be reviewed will be, unless families say they shouldn't.

It means that around 1000 families will be contacted in the next month and offered the chance to opt-out if they want to.

Donna Ockenden says the letters will be sent in a purple envelope, within a normal white one. People will then know the letter is from the review before it is opened.

Hannah Bechelet sat down with Donna Ockenden to discuss how the review is going

She stressed that people have the option to opt-out that the more cases that they look at, the better.She told ITV News Central: "I would like to stress is that on an ongoing basis I am meeting with the executive team of the trust, we have a meeting every eight weeks without fail and where families give me permission I am feeding back directly to the Trust the things that they need to change in the here and now.

"The more families we have, the clearer picture and the better then we can help to improve Nottingham's maternity services for everyone, now and in the future."

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