Full Breakdown
Nottingham University Hospitals Maternity Unit Under Scrutiny: Ockenden Inquiry Findings
6/1/2026, 8:27:36 PM
Inquiry Overview
The Ockenden maternity review, commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care, is examining care for roughly 2,500 families at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) from 2012-2025. The final report is due 24 June 2024 and will assess stillbirths, neonatal deaths, maternal deaths and injuries.
Culture, Staffing, Racism & Criticism
A 2018 resignation letter from a senior midwife revealed the “FOH” (F-off-home) shorthand on a whiteboard, signalling that heavily pregnant women should be sent home. The same letter described a “toxic, bullying culture” and urged staff to “lower compassion” amid chronic understaffing. That year, Sue Brydon led a petition signed by more than 50 midwives warning that inadequate staffing was “the single most important factor threatening the wellbeing of families and midwives.” Additional complaints cited racial discrimination, including mocking accents and dismissive treatment of South Asian women. Midwives reported frantic shifts with no breaks, reliance on a single clinician for fetal-heart monitoring, and senior coordinators “shopping for handbags online” during emergencies.
Key Findings
- Over 800 staff, including 10 midwives, have been interviewed.
- The trust’s internal “high-level incidents” system allowed serious maternal harm to bypass external regulator reporting.
- The Royal College of Midwives estimates a national shortfall of 3,500 midwives; NUH mis-calculated shift staffing by counting sick and maternity-leave staff.
- A 2023 CQC inspection upgraded NUH from “inadequate” to “requires improvement,” yet staff still report chronic understaffing and lack of training.
Official Responses & Future Plans
Chief executive Anthony May, appointed in 2022, pledged organisational accountability and announced a recruitment drive for 2,000 additional midwives together with a £149 million investment in maternity facilities. He said the trust would “take accountability as an organisation for not always providing the circumstances for safe care.” The Department of Health and Social Care expressed sympathy for affected families and confirmed a final government-ordered maternity report will be published later this month. NHS England has introduced new clinical standards for all English maternity services.
Key Direct Quotes
- “Nottingham thought that there was a Nottingham way, that they were some kind of superior NHS trust compared to others.” — Donna Ockenden, senior midwife, Ockenden review
- “That’s quite upsetting for me to hear… Who writes that in a caring profession?” — Sarah Hawkins, mother of a stillborn child
- “The single most important factor threatening the wellbeing of families and midwives… is inadequate staffing.” — Sue Brydon, senior midwife (letter, 2018)
- “One of the first things I did was publicly say that we would tackle racism in this organisation, because it’s abhorrent and utterly unacceptable. And we did.” — Anthony May, chief executive, NUH
