Maternity families call for meeting with minister

Families taking part in the biggest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS have requested a meeting with the health secretary.

Senior midwife Donna Ockenden's independent report about maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust will be published on 24 June.

The review, which involves about 2,500 families, began in September 2022 after allegations of harm to mothers and babies.

Ahead of the findings, the Nottingham Affected Families Group has written to the newly appointed James Murray, urging him to come to the city to gain "a true understanding of the human impact" behind the review.

Murray's predecessor, Wes Streeting, met with the families in June 2025 in what he called the "most harrowing" meeting he had in the role.

Ockenden's inquiry has been investigating stillbirths, neonatal deaths, injured babies and mothers, and maternal deaths at NUH, which runs City Hospital and Queen's Medical Centre.

In their letter, the group said these were not numbers or statistics, adding: "They are parents and children whose lives have been devastated by failures in care."

Nottinghamshire Police also launched a corporate manslaughter case last June as part of its wider criminal investigation into maternity failings at NUH, named Operation Perth.

More than 850 members of staff at the trust have come forward to the independent review.

In June, the families will be told whether experts believe the outcome of their case would or could have been different with better maternity care, and the findings will be delivered to Parliament by Murray.

In their letter, the group said it was "vital" that Murray - who has appointed Michelle Welsh as the government's first maternity adviser since taking on his role - hears directly from those affected.

It added: "These conversations are incredibly difficult, but they matter. Listening to families must remain at the heart of this process.

"When the findings are presented in Parliament, it is vital they are delivered with a true understanding of the human impact behind them.

"Those who have lived through these failures deserve to know that their voices have been heard at the highest level.

"We feel that the government has a duty to fully recognise the scale and seriousness of what has happened in Nottingham, and the importance of making maternity care safe for all families."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "This government remains committed to improving maternity safety.

"The Ockenden review will provide important learnings to help us ensure they are safe and equitable for every family.

"The voices of those who have been harmed or bereaved will always be central to this work."

Anthony May, NUH chief executive, who met some of the families affected for the first time at a meeting on 9 May, said NUH would not "breathe a sigh of relief and move on" after the report, and described it as a "watershed moment".

He stressed that the trust had improved, but there were further improvements to be made and the findings would be incorporated into the plan.

At that same meeting, Ockenden said she would have a role in overseeing the improvements made by the trust after the report was published.

"What absolutely must come is change - change that happens in a meaningful way, a sustained way," she said.

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