Parents welcome probe into Nottingham baby deaths

Parents whose babies died under the care of maternity units in Nottingham have welcomed a corporate manslaughter investigation into an NHS trust but say it is just a "piece of the jigsaw".

Nottinghamshire Police confirmed the inquiry on Monday into Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust - at the centre of the largest maternity inquiry in NHS history - after failings led to hundreds of babies dying or being injured.

The mum and dad of Wynter Andrews, who died 23 minutes after being born in 2019 and of Harriet Hawkins, who was stillborn in 2016, welcomed the development, adding it look a "long time" to reach.

NUH said it hoped "affected families receive the answers that they deserve".

Wynter's father, Gary Andrews, told the BBC: "We've known for some time that what happened to us and our daughter Wynter shouldn't have happened, but to be explored at a criminal level - that is pretty worrying.

"But we're glad the police are taking action."

NUH was fined £800,000 in 2023 after itting failings in Wynter's care in a criminal prosecution brought by healthcare regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The court heard how a "catalogue of failings" exposed Wynter and her mum Sarah Andrews to a "significant risk of harm".

Wynter died from a loss of oxygen flow to her brain which could have been prevented had staff delivered her earlier.

Mr and Mrs Andrews - who have previously been critical of regulators like the CQC - added that they hoped the watchdog would acknowledge the seriousness of the police inquiry and "act earlier" within their own capacity in future.

A spokesperson for the CQC said it had "repeatedly held the trust to " and continued to monitor the service closely.

They said: "We have been clear with the trust where standards of care have fallen short and clear where action must be taken to ensure a safer service."

"The findings from CQC's latest inspection of the trust's maternity services was published in March.

"We continue to monitor the service closely and can inspect at any time should we have concerns that people may be at risk."

Mrs Wynter added: "There have been so many families harmed and so many babies have died - and for us it's nice to know the police are now going to be investigating."

But the Andrews and others, including Sarah and Jack Hawkins - the parents of Harriet Hawkins - believe there should be even further ability.

They have long maintained "individuals need to be held to ".

Harriet was delivered nine hours after dying at Nottingham City Hospital in April 2016 and an external review of the case concluded the death was "almost certainly preventable".

"We think the investigation is great and it's really positive but it's just one piece of the jigsaw," Ms Hawkins said.

However she added there was an "element of justice just getting this investigation".

Mr Hawkins called the police inquiry a "huge development", adding: "Can you imagine another industry or business or school or road where there was so much death and harm from proven negligence and neglect in coroners court where it was just allowed to continue":[]}