Mother questions need for another maternity inquiry

The mother of a boy who was left severely disabled because of hospital failings has questioned the need for another maternity inquiry.

Instead, Charlotte Cheshire, from Newport in Shropshire, said hospitals should be made to "act on the recommendations that have already been given".

Her son, Adam, suffered life-changing injuries following an infection he developed after his birth at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

On Monday, the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, announced an England-wide inquiry into maternity care and a task force to look at the issue.

Mrs Cheshire said she had mixed feelings about the announcement, but welcomed his apology and acknowledgement of the harm done to families.

But she said: "We have already had so many investigations, not least the Ockenden review in Shrewsbury and Telford."

That inquiry in 2022, led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, found catastrophic failures at the hospital trust might have led to the deaths and life-changing injuries of hundreds of babies, as well as the deaths of nine mothers.

She recognised there had since been problems highlighted at a number of other hospital trusts.

"Clearly the problems are so widespread that one single inquiry can't get to the bottom of it," she said.

But she added other investigations have already taken place and she wanted the government to "hold the NHS trusts to account for all the recommendations that have already been made".

Her other concern is over the timescale of the England-wide inquiry.

It is due to report back by December and she said: "That's an incredibly short timeframe to actually get to the truth of what's going on when we've had previous years-long inquiries."

In his announcement, Mr Streeting said the review would involve the victims of maternity scandals, giving families a voice into how the inquiry is run.

He said he wants to ensure "no parent or baby is ever let down again".

The announcement was praised by another woman affected by the Shropshire maternity scandal, Rhiannon Davies, who said: "It's clear that [Health Secretary] Wes Streeting has listened to the families."

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