Hospital Trust Addresses Critical Neonatal Report

A hospital trust has indicated it is undertaking improvements following a report detailing the high number of baby deaths within its facilities. John Jones, who serves as the medical director for the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, indicated that he requested The Royal College of Physicians to conduct the review. This assessment uncovered deficiencies in care and problems within the trust’s neonatal service. Mr. Jones emphasized the importance for the trust to do “all that we could to understand whether there was anything we could be doing differently”. In response to an inquiry about the safety of childbirth in Shropshire, he affirmed that the unit located at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital was “really good”. In the year 2021-22, the trust recorded 18 neonatal deaths, a number 5% higher than those reported by trusts of similar size. Neonatal mortality had also been elevated for the preceding three years, which led the trust to request the review. Mr. Jones stated: “The report was really clear that there isn’t a theme of substandard care for example on the neonatal unit to explain the fact that we are an outlier in terms of the mortality rates.” He proposed that additional factors, including deprivation and access, might be contributing causes. Furthermore, the report indicated that SaTH should not be considered separately from other areas within the West Midlands. Mr. Jones further commented: “We have written to each of the 18 families whose baby or babies’ care was reviewed and have begun meeting with them, in person, to answer any questions and to offer support.” In 2022, a separate investigation overseen by senior midwife Donna Ockenden concluded that severe failures at the trust potentially contributed to the deaths of over 200 infants and nine mothers, as well as causing life-altering injuries to other babies. Her team scrutinized maternity practices at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust spanning two decades and put forth a range of recommendations. Mr. Jones noted that the current review considered Ms. Ockenden’s report, particularly its recommendation for the trust to conduct comprehensive investigations and maintain transparency regarding its discoveries. The review was released this week, and he stated: “We’ve had some recommendations from the external review which we are actively working our way through.” He additionally expressed his conviction that the restructuring of services across the two hospitals—relocating all emergency care, alongside specialist women’s and children’s services, to Shrewsbury, while concentrating planned care in Telford—would lead to additional enhancements.