Hundreds of babies and mothers died or suffered serious injuries at a maternity ward in Nottingham, England, due to a "toxic" hospital environment where mistakes were ignored and covered up. Reported by the Daily Mail, this is based off a report released Wednesday, led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, who conducted the largest inquiry in the National Health Service's (NHS) history.It found leaders at the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust Hospital knew there were issues in their maternity department for years, but failed to address them.It also found a culture of bullying, where "speaking up was dangerous" and bosses' responses were "shaped by self-protection rather than patient safety.".When families did complain about the quality of care, they were met with an "intimidating, male-dominated" panel who was "dismissive of non-medical voices.""This is a report about how a system failed, and what it costs when it fails. It costs lives, futures, and families, everything," stated Ockenden.Over 2,500 families and over 800 staff, past and present, who had attended and worked at the trust were a part of the 343-page review. Of all the cases, they found there were 520 instances of mothers and babies suffering potentially avoidable harm or death as a result of poor care..Ockenden found when women reported desperate pain, they were often turned away, while others were treated "cruelly" and with "brutality."She also said senior managers — 60 of whom did not wish to contribute to the review — "failed by a service which did not listen, did not learn and did not respond adequately when concerns were raised."Babies died from preventable conditions like oxygen starvation, mismanaged labour, hospital-acquired infections, and poor postnatal care — with others suffering serious, and life-long injuries.What Ockenden called the "tragic quest for a normal birth" stopped staff from intervening when births were going wrong, and women were begging for C-sections.."At Nottingham, a toxic culture was allowed to take hold and was allowed to persist," observed Ockenden."A small number of powerful leaders, described in both family and staff testimonies as having infected the unit, creating an environment in which bullying was normalised, speaking up was dangerous and governance was shaped by self-protection."Their incident review panel was also described as being intimidating, male-dominated, and dismissive of non-medical voices.She added that many staff left because "incidents were being brushed under the carpet.".Women who raised concerns were told "they were anxious and imagining it" while women in labour were "turned away repeatedly."Ockenden revealed many families only knew the truth about the poor care after instructing "lawyers many years later, and some are still waiting."Families called the culture at the trust "perverse" while the bosses behind the culture were "rewarded" them with new NHS jobs.Jack Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet died in 2016 and who, along with his wife Sarah, was instrumental in bringing about the review, spoke about his experience with the trust.."We are victims who became campaigners. Ten years later, still nothing has happened about Harriet's care in the regulatory framework. Nothing. Every single person who was working then is still working now, unless they've retired."The UK's Health Secretary James Murray apologised on behalf of the NHS.Murray told the UK's House of Commons "no options are off the table" when he was pressed by MPs for a public inquiry of NUH, which could mean senior management could be compelled to give evidence.The NHS trust, which runs the Queen's Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital, has already paid out millions of pounds in compensation and fines.
