Hundreds of new families will be included in the UK’s largest review into maternity failings, delaying the findings until 2026.
Senior midwife Donna Ockenden began an inquiry in September 2022 to investigate stillbirths, neonatal deaths, injured babies and mothers, and maternal deaths at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH).
The review had registered more than 2,000 cases dating back to 2012 and had hoped to be able to reveal its findings by September.
But this deadline has now been pushed back to June 2026 to accommodate the cases of about 300 more families, with hospitals trust saying it “supported the decision”.
The cases are being reviewed by more than 120 clinical reviewers across the country, and the team of experts will be expanded now the fresh cases have come to light.
Ms Ockenden said: “We now expect that the review will have around 2,500 families in it and publication of our final report with the extra cases will need to move.”
Anthony May, NUH chief executive, said he supported the decision to extend the review to include the new families.
“Since the start of the Review in September 2022, we have worked closely with Donna Ockenden and her team, and this will continue through to the report’s publication and beyond,” he said.
“While the review is ongoing, we will continue to do everything we can to improve our maternity services further.”
