Shropshire maternity scandal: Trust to return £1m bonus it was given for providing ‘good care’

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust received £963,391 in 2018 for meeting safety standards set by NHS maternity scheme, despite later being rated as inadequate by Care Quality Commission

The NHS trust at the centre of an investigation into preventable baby deaths will repay the £963,391 it received after initially meeting the safety criteria of a maternity incentive scheme.​

A leaked report given to The Independent last November revealed Britain’s largest maternity scandal, at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (Sath), where dozens of babies and three mothers died because of poor care, and more than 900 cases are now being investigated.

Despite a history of poor care stretching back 40 years, the trust was paid close to £1m in 2018 for meeting the 10 safety standards required by the NHS Maternity Incentive Scheme.

It received the money while it was being inspected by the Care Quality Commission, which later rated the trust and its maternity services as inadequate.

The trust, which has since ordered an independent review into the matter, said an “incorrect submission” had been made to the maternity scheme.

“We have reassessed the Maternity Incentive Scheme return for year 1, which was submitted in 2018,” Sath’s chief executive, Louise Barnett, said in a statement. “Although some good progress had been made, we did not have sufficient evidence to support the required 100% compliance in all of the standards.

“The incentive scheme money which we received from NHS Resolution will be repaid.

“We acknowledge that our systems need to be more robust. We are continuing to review and strengthen our governance processes, to provide additional rigour and scrutiny at all levels, which I welcome.”

Clinical malpractice was allowed to continue unchecked at Sath between 1979 and 2017, with repeated failings by doctors, midwives and hospital bosses, according to the internal review seen by The Independent.

The investigation, which was launched in 2017 by then health secretary Jeremy Hunt and led by midwife Donna Ockenden, singled out the deaths of at least 42 babies and three mothers during that period.

More than 50 children also suffered permanent brain damage after being deprived of oxygen during birth, the investigation discovered, as well as identifying 47 other cases of substandard care.

Writing in The Independent last year, Ms Ockenden urged families affected by the scandal to come forward and report their experiences under the trust.

“This is not a process that can be rushed,” she said in November. “Equally, it must not be a process that feels incomplete. By the time I complete my report at the end of 2020, I want to make sure we have done all we can to reach every family who has raised concerns.”

Last month, Mr Hunt called for an independent inquiry into maternity safety across the entirety of the NHS following the Sath scandal and widespread neglect uncovered at East Kent Hospitals University Trust.

Now chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, he also backed The Independent’s campaign to reinstate a scrapped maternity safety fund, and called for an investigation of why poor care and cover-ups are being repeated at different hospitals.

“I think the case is becoming unanswerable for an independent inquiry into the safety of maternity care across the NHS ... I think it’s difficult to say there isn’t some kind of a pattern of problems here,” he told The Independent. “The question that needs answering is: why do these mistakes appear to be repeating themselves?”