Wes Streeting has urged Parliament to summon NHS bosses who refused to give evidence to the Nottingham maternity review evidence refusal. He said senior leaders should explain why they would not cooperate with Donna Ockenden’s review into the maternity scandal at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
The review found that more than 500 mothers and babies suffered potentially avoidable harm or died. Streeting said the refusals denied families an honest account of what went wrong and described the non-cooperation as an insult to the Nottingham families.
Streeting and Layla Moran
In a letter to Layla Moran, Streeting said, “their cowardice is an insult to the Nottingham families.” He also wrote: “Having sat and listened to those parents recount their harrowing experiences, of harm and bereavement, I find it simply unconscionable that people who have worked for the NHS would deny them an honest account of what went wrong and why.”
He called on Moran to summon those who refused to give evidence to Ockenden to explain their actions before Parliament. Streeting said, “If the threat of being held in contempt of Parliament is necessary to force those in positions of power to be held accountable, then so be it.”
Nottingham University Hospitals
Ockenden’s report found that the harm came from deeply embedded systemic failures at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. The report said the trust knew there were serious issues in its maternity department going back years and failed to take action to prevent more deaths.
Streeting said the refusals showed “a complete disregard for the safety of patients in general” and were “indicative of the cover-up culture in the NHS that must be brought to an end.” The scale of the resistance was set out in the review: 31 of 66 local executives and directors approached about their roles refused to be interviewed.
Parliament and the Government
Only four of 14 senior regional NHS leaders agreed to be interviewed. Streeting said, “Nottingham families should not have to wait and those who held positions of power and responsibility should not be able to evade scrutiny and accountability.”
The Government said it would appoint a national maternity commissioner after a report concluded families had suffered from repeated failures in NHS care. Families affected by the failings said the rapid review led by Baroness Valerie Amos was not sufficiently independent and called for a statutory public inquiry. For readers following the case, the immediate test is whether Parliament uses its powers to make the reluctant witnesses answer in public.
