SaTH Forms Family Liaison Team to Address Patient Safety Incidents

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has established a family liaison team. This initiative aims to support patients and their families following adverse treatment outcomes and to enhance the trust’s handling of patient safety incidents by incorporating their experiences. The Ockenden Report on maternity failings previously underscored deficiencies in addressing incidents of harm. However, in 2023, the Care Quality Commission commended SaTH for progress, noting that incidents were now “managed well”. Hayley Flavell, the trust’s director of nursing, stated: “We will continue to strive towards providing excellent care for the communities we serve.” These new personnel are tasked with “prioritise and support the needs of patients and families” who have been impacted. Additionally, they will guide colleagues on appropriate communication with patients and relatives, ensuring that their experiences and concerns are addressed. These appointments stem from a policy sanctioned last year, designed to comply with updated NHS standards for managing patient safety incidents across the trust’s two facilities, the Royal Shrewsbury and the Princess Royal in Telford. SaTH had previously faced criticism regarding its management of these matters, particularly highlighted in the Ockenden Report. The trust received censure for reclassifying certain incidents that ought to have been formally designated as “serious,” and for generating substandard reports on issues of such significance. Senior midwife Donna Ockenden concluded in her final report: “There was a lack of learning and missed opportunities to improve safety.” Families who provided testimony to the review expressed profound dissatisfaction with the trust’s approach following treatment failures that resulted in the deaths or harm of babies. SaTH stated that the introduction of the new liaison team and its associated methods for addressing safety incidents signifies a “fundamental change” in their investigation and learning processes. Ms Flavell further expressed that she was “delighted” by these appointments, made “to improve how we engage compassionately with patients and families affected by patient safety incidents.”